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THE OLD STONE TOWER. 



HAND-BOOK 



OF 



3llfra|iort, an^ lljiobt fjsliinii 



/ 



M- ^ 



-^ 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 



PEN AND INK SKETCHES," " LIFE OF CHATTF.RTON." 
••PREACHERS AND POLITICIANS,-' •'LIONS, 
LIVING AND DEAD," ETC., ETC. 



ropYR'O/^; 



^a^V;? 




NEWPORT, R. I.: 

C. E. H AMME TT, Jr, 

1852. 






Knterku, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

CHARLES E. HAMMETT, Jr., 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the 

District of Rhode Island. 



DEDICATION. 



Co laljn cDufrtoii Cljoiilfii, l.i., 



OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND. 

Pleasant it must have been of old 
To roam where never mortal man set 

His foot upon the islands bold 

Save some red son of Narragansett. 

Then, on the beach, from forest-shade, 
With springy step at dawn emerging, 

Stalked the young warrior-chief, arrayed 
In plaint and plume, with Island virgin. 

Then, when the mid-day chase was o'er, 
The old men to their sons and daughters, 

Mingled with savage tales of yore. 
Their stories of revengeful slaughters. 

No more the Indian tribes we see 

Like serpents gliding through the wild wood ; 
They startle, but on mother's knee. 

And, but disturb the dreams of childhood ! 

How different now the scene ; — lo ! here 
Summer's migration-law obeyed is; 

And unto Newport's sands repair 

The town-tired gentlemen and ladies. 



VI DEDICATION. 

I, mingling in the flying throng, 

Came gladly to a safe and true port, 
(True from old times,) and tarried long 

In the sweet neighborhood of Newport, 

Amid my rambles here, I found 

Out many a sweet and scarce espied nook ; 

And deemed a Journal of each round 

Might make a rather useful "Guide-Book ;" 

So with my pencil and my pen 

I wandered oft o'er bay and dry land; 

Sketched, wrote, and sent the printer then 
This book of Newport and Rhode Island. 

Kind friend ! as tribute to your worth, 
Be your name with my volume mated ; 

So, gratefully, as it goes forth, 
To you 'tis gladly dedicated. 

J. R. T>iy. 
Nkwi'ort, R. I., 1852. 



TO THE READER. 



Tor this little book no other preface is needed 
than what may be termed an apology for publish- 
ing it. 

The writer, glad to escape for a season from the 
Babel of a great city, chose Newport as a sometime 
residence. After being there a few days, he expe- 
rienced much difficulty in discovering the various 
objects of interest in the tow^n and vicinity, in conse- 
quence of no available aid being at hand, in the useful 
shape of a Pocket Volume. With one of Murray's 
Bstimable "Hand Books" in his possession, he 
bad easily threaded the labyrinths of London, and 
plunged into the purlieus, or strayed among the 
palaces of Paris; but here, no such companion was 
lear to act at once as "guide, philosopher, and 
Tiend." 

So, it occurred to him, after he had loitered long 
)n these lovely shores, and visited every " Lion" of 
he town and its vicinity, that his written experiences 
hereof might be useful to the many who hither 
!ome in search either of health or of happiness. A 
v^ant of such a guide-book, he has been informed, is 
elt, and he has thus attempted to supply the deside- 
atum. He has not broached any antiquarian 



yiii TO THE HEADER. 

themes— hazarded any scientific opinions— nor has 
he attempted, indeed, to be profound on any topic. 
Like the African bee-bird, he has but shown the 
way to Nature's sweets, leaving to those who may 
peruse his pages, the pleasure and the privilege of 
enjoying. them, as he has done. 



CONTENTS. 



PACK 

5 



Dkdicatoky Stanzas, .... 

To THE Readek, . . , , .7 

CHAPTER I. 

Rhode Island— Visit of John Clark to Roger Williams- 
Purchase of Island— Original Charter— First Dwell- 
ing-house erected in Newport — Revolutionary Inci- 
dent-Newport made a City— Climate of the Island, 13 

CHAPTER H. 

Situation of Newport — The Streets — Newport during 
" The Season "— Fenimore Cooper's Sketch of New- 
port, 18 

CHAPTER HI. 

The Old Stone Tower— Its Situation, Appearance, and 
Condition — Controversies respecting it — Arnold's 
Will — Longfellow's "Skeleton in Armor"— Opin- 
ions of Rafn— Smith and Cooper — Lines on the Old 
J^uifij • . . . . .20 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PAOK 

Coast Scenery — Peculiar formation of Rocks — Geological 
Speculations — Easton's Point — The Bluff — '' Purga- 
tory" — Legends — The Devil and the Squaw — *' The 
Lover's Leap," . . . . .38 

CHAPTER V. 

Robins — Ellison's Rock — Fish of Newport and Narragan- 
sett Bay — Hints to Anglers — Turbot — The "Forty 
Steps " — Conrad's Cave — Summer and Winter 
Scenery — Sea Weed, . . . .51 

CHAPTER VI. 

Excursion to Coggeshall's Lodge — Beautiful Mansions — 
The Robin Orchard — Lovely Beach — The Ledge — 
The Gulley — Boat House — Hints to Epicures — Fort 
Adams, . . . . . .62 

CHAPTER VH. 

The Beaches — Easton's Beach — Bathing and Bathers — 
Amusing Scenes — Fashionable Aquatics — Sketches in 
the Crowd— Story of the "Sea Bird," . . 69 

CHAPTER Vni. 

Sachuest Beach — " Purgatory " — " Paradise " — The 
Hanging Rock — Dean Berkeley and the " Minute 
Philosophy"— Whitehall— Sketch of Newport by 
Berkeley — Almy's and Smith's Beaches, . . 78 

CHAPTER IX. 

A Reminiscence of the Revolution — Overing House — 
Daring capture of General Prescott by Major-General 
Barton— Death of the Veteran — The Glen— The 
Tea House, . . . . , .84 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER X, 

PAGE 

Revolutionary Reminiscences— Curious Extracts found in 

an old Diary in Newport, . . . .95 

CHAPTER XL 

Churches of Newport — First Baptist — North Baptist — 
Jews' Synagogue — Trinity Church — Friends — New 
Friends — First Congregational — Moravian — Central 
Baptist — Roman Catholic — Zioii — Unitarian — Free 
Will Baptist— Colored, . . . . lOi 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Lily Pond — The Spouting Rock — Song of the Wild 

Flowers — A gem from Shelley, . . .109 

CHAPTER Xni. 

Public Buildings and Institutions — The Stale House — 
Stuart's Picture — Town Hall — Redwood Library — 
Mechanics' Library Association — Masonic Hall — 
Free School — Newport Asylum, . . . 113 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Eminent Men, natives of, or connected with, Newport — 
Greene — Perry — Callender — Stiles — A. Brown — 
Hopkins — Rodman — Gammel — Dunn — Waterhouse 
—Lightfoot— Senter— Moffatt — Brett— G. Stuart— 
Malbone— Allston— Claggett— C. B. King— Wall- 
Stuart, &c. &c. . . . . . 125 

CHAPTER XV. 

Islands and Forts in Narragansett Bay — Islands: — Ca- 
nonicut — Prudence — Patience — Hope — Despair — 



Xll CONTENTS. 

TAGE 

Hog — Gould — Dyer's — Coasters Harbor — Rose — 
Goat, and Dutch. Forts: — Adams — Greene — Wool- 
cott, and Louis, ..... 137 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Tannmany Hill Observatory — Malbone House — Anec- 
dotes — Mr. Hall's Mansion — Cemeteries, . . 142 

CHAPTER XVH. 

A ride to the Stone Bridge — Vaucluse — Pictures — Quaker's 

Hill— Battle there— The Bridge— Sharking, &c. 146 

CHAPTER XVni. 

Useful Information for Visitors — Professional Lists — 

. 152 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Miscellaneous Remarks — A Newport Relic — Mansions — 

The Germania Society — Vale, . . .162 



NEWPORT AND ITS VICINITY 



CHAPTER I. 

Rhode Island — Visit of John Clark to Roger Wil- 
liams — Purchase of Island — Original Charter — 
First Dwelling-House Erected in Newport — Re- 
volutionary Incident — Newport made a City — 
Climate of the Island — Fogs. 

Before entering upon a particular description of 
the Town of Newport, it may be as well to give a 
brief account of the Island upon which it stands. 

Rhode Island is situated in Narragansett Bay, a 
locality too well known to need any minute descrip- 
tion. It is the largest of a cluster of islands, is 
fifteen miles long, and about three and a half broad ; 
and it is divided into three portions — Portsmouth, 
embracing the northern, Newport the southern ex- 
tremity, and Middletown, occupying the space be- 
tween them. 

In old times, only the savage roved among the 
plains or along the shores of the Island of Aquidneck, 
as it was formerly called. But what solitude is there 
2 



14: HAND-BGOK OF NEWrOKT. 

that is not discoverable by the sturdy Anglo-Saxon 
Race ? About two hundred and fourteen years ago, 
the venerable John Clark and a little band of perse-, 
cuted brethren entered this then inhospitable and 
savage desert, rejoicing in it as an asylum of rest 
from the relentless hand of religious intolerance and 
persecution. 

Unjust and arbitrary decisions of the General 
Court of Massachusetts had induced certain persons 
to depute Mr. Clark and others to select a spot where 
they might, unmolested, worship God according to 
the dictates of their own consciences. They travel- 
led through New Hampshire, and then M^ent south- 
ward to Providence, where they were kindly received 
by Roger Williams, who had previously been banish- 
ed from the Colony of Massachusetts for his peculiar 
views of civil and religious polity. 

Mr. Williams recommended Clark and his com- 
panions to the waters of Narragansett Bay, and ad- 
vised them to take up their abode on her shores. 
Pie also very kindly offered his services in procuring 
them a settlement; and through his influence with 
the two great Sachems of Narragansett, Canon icus 
and Myantonomo (whose confidence he enjoyed), a 
deed of Aquidneck and other Islands of the Bay was 
procured in the name of Mr. Coddington and friends 
in March, 1638. 

Thus these venerable men commenced the settle- 
ment of Rhode Island. ■ , 

The following is the original Charter of the x\meri- 



/a:». 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 15 

can Isle of Rhodes : — " We whose names are under- 
written, do solemnly swear in the pre-ience of the 
Great Jehovah, to incorporate ourselves into a body- 
politic ; and as he shall help us, will submit our 
persons, lives, and estates unto the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and to 
all those most perfect laws of his, given us in His 
most Holy word of truth, to be guided and judged 
thereby." 

The first settlement on the Island was commenced 
at its northern extremity, where a town was regular- 
ly laid out, called at first Pocasset ; subsequently 
Portsmouth. But so rapid was the increase of the 
Colony during the following summer, that it was 
deemed advisable for their mutual prosperity to 
commence a settlement on some other part of the 
Island. 

Accordingly the next spring, Mr. Clark, with 
several others, removed to this part of the Island, 
and commenced a settlement, to which they gave 
the name of Newport. The Island itself, subsequently, 
by order of the General Court, was called the Isle of 
Rhodes, or Rhode Island, in memory of that cele- 
brated isle in the Mediterranean. 

The first dwelling-house built in this town, was 
erected by Nicholas Easton — all prior dwellings were 
tents and wigwams. Both towns were united un- 
der the same simple patriarchal form of government, 
of which Mr. William Coddington was chosen Magis- 
trate or Judae. 



16 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

The last of the orighial purchasers and proprietors 
of this Island was Henry Ball, Esq., who died in 
1693, aged 84 years, who was afterwards Governor 
of the Colony. 

In the Revolutionary struggle, Rhode Island took 
a prominent part. Indeed the first act of popular 
resistance in the great drama which separated the 
Colonies from Great Britain, and finally resulted in 
the American Independence, although claimed by, 
and awarded to others, w^as made at Newport in 
1769, in the destruction of his Britannic Majesty's 
armed sloop Liberty. The Boston Tea affair did not 
take place until 1773. 

In 1784 Newport was incorporated as a City, and 
on the first day of that year, the first choice of City 
officers was had. This form of government was, 
however, soon abandoned, and the old form of town 
government returned to in March 1787. 

The climate of Rhode Island is most genial, espe- 
cially so in Newport and its neighborhood — remind- 
ing travellers of the soft atmosphere of the Isle of 
Wight. From this circumstance it has not unaptly 
been called the Eden of America. There is general- 
ly a difference of ten degrees between the tempera- 
ture in Boston and Albany, and in Rhode Island. 
The air of the Island is almost absolutely sea air; is 
moist ; often replenished with mists ; less cold than 
that of the neighboring continent in the winter, and less 
warm in summer. The temperature resembles in 
some degree that of England. Whatever is the 



hand-book: of newpobt. 17 

cause, it has long enjoyed this reputation, and accord- 
ingly has been, and is a place of great resort for both 
health and pleasure- seekers. 

Among the peculiarities of Rhode Island are its 
visitations of fog. These, especially in April, are 
frequent. At such times the regular inhabitants are 
easily known from strangers by their absence of ex- 
tra clothing and mufflers. These fogs are white and 
dense ; and occasionally last for many days together. 
They are very salubrious, and " Walking Stewart," 
the celebrated traveller, asserted that they were 
" brooms which kept the atmosphere clean." There 
cannot be a doubt that they purify it. 

The Constitution of Rhode Island is founded on a 
Charter, granted by King Charles II. of England, In 
1663, the frame of government not having been 
essentially altered by the revolution. In March, 
1790, the United States Constitution was agreed to, 
and Rhode Island State came into the Confederacy. 

For minute details on the foregoing subjects we 
refer the reader to the volumes of the Rhode Island 
Historical Society. 



IS HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



CHAPTER II. 

Situation of Newport — The Streets — Newport in 
THE " Season " — Fenimore Cooper on Newport. 

If the reader will glance at the map of North 
America, and to the particular portion of it where 
Narragansett Bay is situated, he will perceive in 
that beautiful anchorage gi"ound a little archipelago. 
Of this cluster of Islands, that of Rhode, or as it was 
formerly called, Aquidneck, is the largest, it being 
about fifteen miles long, and, at its broadest portion, 
three miles and a half across. 

At the southern end of Rhode Island, and upon 
the western shore, is situated the town of Newport. 
It lies in latitude 41 degrees 29 minutes North, and 
in 71 degrees 17 minutes West longitude. Its posi- 
tion is most happy, for being built on a gentle 
slope, so that the houses and churches at the eastern 
side of the town are on much higher ground than 
those close to the main street, and by the wharves 
which form its western boundary, lying, as it were, 
in a recess of the land, it is protected to a great ex- 
tent from storm and wind, while Goat Island acts as 
a natural breakwater, which, in conjunction with the 
point of land on which Fort Adams is situated, eflec- 



HAND-BOOK OP NEWPORT. 19 

tiially shields the town from the fury of the ocean 
billows. Of the harbor itself, and of the various 
islands in the Bay of Narragansett, more particular 
information will be given in another part of this 
work. At present we will take a sort of birds-eye, 
or general view of the town, and in future pages en- 
ter into descriptive detail. 

Running parallel with the row of wharves and in 
a line almost as straight as an arrow, is Thames 
street, or Main street as it formerly was and is some- 
times even now called, its northern extremity being 
near the cemetery, and its southern end a little way 
beyond Narragansett avenue. From this main artery 
of Newport, which is fully a mile in length, and of 
a convenient breadth, branch off at right angles with 
it about twenty-six streets, each of which runs into 
another long thoroughfare, Spring street, which is al- 
most as long, but by no means as regular in its 
direction as Thames. A third avenue, consisting of 
Bellevue, Touro and Kay streets, is connected with 
Spring street either by fresh streets, or the continua- 
tions of those between Spring and Main. Behind 
these are other and smaller streets and lanes, and 
still further to the eastward are open and breezy 
downs, and fields which are terminated by rocky cliffs 
against which the Atlantic Ocean either gently rolls, 
or, urged by the spirit of the storm, beats the bold, 
defiant coast with its thundering surge. 

Northward of Long Wharf, and just beyond 
the cove, four streets — viz. Washington, Second 



20 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

Third and Fourtli, running like Thames street, par- 
allel with the water's edge, are intersected at regular 
intervals by about ten others, so forming regular 
thoroughfares, which on the town map, strikingly 
contrast with the irregularity presented by many in 
the middle of the town. The widest street in it is 
Broad street, a fine thoroughfare, beautifully shaded 
with elms which, for once, does not exhibit some- 
thing exactly the opposite of its name. Continuous 
with this, is the West Road. Another road named 
Bath, runs from Touro street, and leads to Easton's 
Beach. During the last month a continuation of 
Touro street has been opened, forming a splendid 
avenue from the town to the Boat House, the distance 
to which from the Ocean House is nearly two miles. 
On this road are three beautiful mansions belonging 
to Mr. Eitchie, Mr. Parish, and Mrs. Cleaveland. 

"With few exceptions the houses are built of wood, 
and, mau}^ of these, of recent erection, are very ele- 
gant. In the old parts of the town, tottering fabrics, 
crumbling to decay and destitute of the adorn- 
ment of paint, are to be found- — many of them stand- 
ing endwise upon the street, giving a straggling ap- 
pearance to their neighborhood. Since, however, the 
town of Newport has become a favorite resort for 
rank, fashion, and beauty, from all parts of the Union, 
it has wonderfully smartened up, and, season after sea- 
son, new and handsome edifices arise — fresh streets 
are planned, and various improvements are made. 
Still it retains much of its primitive simplicity of ap- 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 21 

pearance, and there broods over it that spirit of tran- 
quillity which is so entirely characteristic of a New 
England town. 

Viewed from some of the elevated spots in the 
neighborhood, or from the banks of the island of Con- 
anicut the town presents quite a picturesque, if not an 
imposing, aspect. Washed at its base by the ocean 
waves, beneath the blue skies of summ.er, its spires 
and towers rise purely white or stone-tinted, their 
gilt vanes flashing in the sun, and the green blinds 
of the w^indow^s suggesting the calmness and quiet 
within. Here and there verdant patches of foliage 
may be observed, dotting the scene with waving 
beauty. These green spots, how^ever, are not nu- 
merous, for trees are comparatively scarce. But 
what Newport and its vicinity lack in sylvan beauty, 
is amply compensated by the stern majesty and the 
wild grandeur of its rocky coast — the beauty of its 
beaches ; and by the interest attaching to various 
other spots in whose histories blend the associations 
of olden times, with a dash of the mysterious and 
romantic ! 

In the business streets are many excellent and 
some really elegant stores. An air of prosperity 
seems to pervade the place generally — but in " the 
season " all is hurry and drive. Then in the shop 
windows are displayed the most attractive wares. 
Fashion rattles by in gorgeous equipages ; and from 
balcony and verandah beauty looks forth. The 
beaches are thronged with motley multitudes ; and 
2* 



22 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

splashing in the spray, in all varieties of bathing 
costume, are the seekers of pleasure and health. A 
few weeks rapidly pass away, and then the town re- 
turns to that quiet which from earliest times appears 
to have been its peculiar and distinguishing charac- 
teristic. 

Fenimore Cooper in his admirable " Eed Eover," 
says of Newport : — 

" No one who is familiar with the hustle and activity 
of an American commercial town, would recognise, in the 
repose which now reigns in the ancient mart of Rhode 
Island, a place that, in its day, has been ranked among the 
most important ports along the whole line of our extended 
coast. It would seem at the first glance that nature has 
expressly fashioned the spot to anticipate the wants and 
to realize the wishes of the mariner. Enjoying the four 
great requisites of a safe and commodious haven, a placid 
basin, an outer harbor, and a convenient roadstead with a 
clear offing, Newport appeared to the eye of our Euro- 
pean ancestors designed to shelter fleets, and to nurse a 
race of hardy and expert seamen. Though the latter ex- 
pectation has not been entirely disappointed, how little has 
reality answered to expectation in respect of the former, 
A successful rival has arisen, even in the immediate 
vicinity of this seeming fovorite of nature, to defeat all the 
calculations of mercantile sagacity and to add another to 
the thousand existing evidences that 'the wisdom of man 
is foolishness.' 

" There are few towns of any magnitude within our broad 
territories in which so little change has been effected in 
half a century as in Newport. Until the vast resources oi 
the interior were developed, the beautiful island whereor 
it stands was a chosen retreat for the affluent planters oj 
the South from the heats and diseases of their burninn 
climate. Here they resorted in crowds to inhale the in- 
visforatincf breezes of the sea." 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 23 

Did our limits permit, we might be tempted to 
quote still further from this favorite author, who, in 
the tale referred to, gives some graphic descriptions 
of the state of Newport society, as it existed in old 
times. We have now, however, to do rather with 
the present than with the past, reserving for sepa- 
rate portions of this little volume, references to the 
ancient landmarks. It may be as well, however, to 
say here that although the commercial popularity of 
the ancient port has declined — yet as late as 1769 
Newport out-rivalled New York in foreign and do- 
mestic navigation. 



24 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Old Stone Tower — Its Situation, Appearance, 
AND Present Condition — Controversies Respecting 
IT — Arnold's Will — The Skeleton in Armor — • 
Opinions of Rafn — Smith and Cooper — Original 
Lines on the Ruin. 

Minute classification is very proper, and indeed 
extremely necessary in all matters connected with 
scientific investigation. It is, however, by no means 
indispensable in a book such as this, which only pro- 
fesses to be a series of walks and talks. And per- 
haps the most natural division one could adopt, in 
local loiterings, would be to jot down, without refer- 
ence to strict order, particulars of, and speculations 
upon such matters and things as we may perchance 
meet with just when the impressions made by them 
are fresh and vivid. If, as Campbell tells us, "dis- 
tance lends enchantment to the view," it also too 
frequently robs it of its distinctness, and in the hazy 
remoteness of the object veils the sharp lines which 
give to it half its character. 

The curiosities of a city or town are generally the 
first objects of attraction to visitors. It cannot, 
therefore, be wondered ut, that the singular struc- 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWrOKT. 25 

tiire which we are about to describe, should be one 
of the earliest resorts of the stranger in Newport. It 
is one of the '• Lions " of the place, and as such has 
always, within the memory of man, claimed con- 
sideration and baffled curiosity. 

Not like some gray old cathedral, whose 

"Towers are crumbling one by one ; 
Whose turrets to the dust have gone ;" — 

Not like some abbey like that of Melrose or 
Tintern, where 

"The moon — the regal moon intensely bright, 
Shines through the roseate window of the west ; 
Each shaft an artificial stalactite 
Of pendent stone ;" — 

Nor, like some battered castle, in whose court- 
yards rank weeds grow unchecked ; and in whose 
chapel lie recumbent statues of warriors and 
priests in " stonen state." Not at all resembling 
such remains, we say, are these fragments of an edi- 
fice whose former tenants, and uses, remain wTapt in 
mystery. 

Before adverting to the various opinions which 
have been hazarded respecting this ruin, it will be 
necessary to give a brief description thereof, and of 
its situation. 

The pedestrian who ascends the slight acclivity of 
Pelham street — a broad and handsome thoroughfare, 
which reaches from Thames to Touro streets — will, 
just before he gets to the latter, observe, on his left 



26 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

hand, an oblong field, surrounded by high wooden 
palings. About the centre of this grassy space 
stands a strange-looking building, which exhibits 
convincing proofs of great antiquity. At first, one 
is reminded, by the upper part of the building espe- 
cially, of the Round Towers of Ireland ; that idea, 
however, is soon dispelled on a closer examination 
of the lower portion, which has nothing in common 
with those also mysterious pieces of masonry. 

On a near examination, this building is found to 
consist of a circular wall of great strength, built on 
arches, which spring from eight round and massive 
pillars. These latter bear evident indications of 
having once been covered with a thick coating of 
plaster, of which portions still remain. At a little 
distance these pillars appear to be composed only of 
flat irregularly-shaped stones, laid carefully one on 
another, but, on inspection, mortar, as hard as the 
stones themselves, is seen in the interstices. These 
pillars are without capitals, and are referable to no 
order of architecture ; yet considerable skill is evi- 
denced in their formation. Above them the arches 
are well turned, though the materials are rude 
enough. Not a stone appears to have crumbled or 
decayed, and apparently the enormous weight rest- 
ing on them has never forced them a hair's-breadth 
from the situation in which they were first deposited. 
The stones in the tower portion are disposed simi- 
larly to those of the pillars, and all appear to be as 
uninjured by time or violence. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 27 

The top of each of the eight columns projects con- 
siderably, in a singular manner, beyond the lower 
edge of the tower which they support, and at their 
bases are larger stones. Between these supports 
there are no doors — all is open to the wind and 
storm. Roofless is it, too; and though the blasts of 
many a score of winters must have howled around it, 
it shows no symptom of decay, though its great age 
is indubitable. Whatever has caused its mutilation, 
most probably has been the effects of human vio- 
lence, and not of any elemental forces. 

Within, all is as strange and puzzling and bare as 
without. Three openings are seen, which might 
have been windows, on the west, north and south 
portions. In the eastern, just above the arches, is a 
recess, doubtless used as a fireplace, for the chimney 
ascends through the thick wall. There are also ca- 
vities in which rafters appear to have been inserted. 
One blackened beam yet stretches from wall to wall 
— the only exception to the stern, rigid stoniness of 
the whole place. 

Unlike what happens in the case of many other 
deserted buildings, no human interest softens the 
heart whilst the eye gazes on this one. In old ruins 
in general, you may spend days in looking at the 
different parts, and still have something fresh to see ; 
you may climb one tower, enter one hall, mount one 
chamber, or descend into one dark dungeon cell 
after another, and still fancy that something will 
presently be seen to throw light upon the matter : 



28 nAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 

an area of not many feet diameter contains all that 
is here to be beheld ; and you may look at these 
massy columns, and the roofless, round and massive 
tower which they support, and j^ou may look as 
long, as hard and as often as you please, but nothing 
but eight bare columns, and a supported tower as 
bare, can you discover. 

The circum^ference of this remarkable ruin is ex- 
actly eighty-one feet ; the pillars are three feet in 
circumference, and about ten feet high ; the tower, 
twenty feet in altitude, — making the entire elevation 
from the ground, as nearly as possible, thirty feet, — 
and the upper wall one foot and a half in thickness. 

By the inhabitants of Newport, this building goes 
by the name of the Old Stone Mill, and so it is 
marked on Mr. H. F. Walling's map of the town. 
For years past it has been a bone of antiquarian 
contention; but of its true origin and uses, "no man 
knoweth until this day." Grave and learned socie- 
ties have discussed the topic. From flir and near, 
searching histoiians and fanciful dreamers have come 
to wander round the circle of stones — silent and 
mysterious as those of lonely cairns and stern gray 
cromlechs ; but all is conjecture ; and the " oldest 
inhabitant" can tell no more respecting it than the 
little infant who was born yesterday. A very few 
years since, a man aged 106 years, who died in 
Newport, declared that, in Ms boyhood, the mystery 
was as great as now ; for old men of that time knew 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 20 

naught of the matter, and only spoke of the struc- 
ture as "The Old Stone Mill." 

Mr. George C. Mason, in his very clever sketches 
of " Newport and its Environs," says : — 

"It has been conjectured by many that this building; 
must have been the work of the Northmen when settled 
in America; and taken by some to be proof irrefragable 
that here is to be sought the famous Vineland discovered 
by Biorn and his companions, and visited afterwards by 
adventurers from Iceland, many centuries before the 
voyage of Verrozano, and the discoveries by the Cabots. 
More recent and authentic inquiries, and particularly 
the recovery of the will of Governor Benedict Arnold, 
executed in 1677, have determined the character of the 
structure, which was no doubt erected as a mill for 
grinding Indian corn and other grain, soon after the 
settlement of the colony in 1639. This mill, built ia the 
style then common in England, was placed upon land 
either originally allotted to, or which soon came into 
possession of the family of Arnold, and is formed of the 
same material which is used in the numberless stone 
walls which now enclose and divide Rhode Island proper, 
and that, at its discovery and settlement, was loosely 
strown over a greater part of its surface. The cement 
which binds this material is as hard as the stone itself, 
and was formed in part of the marine shells and exuviae 
then to be found in abundance on the shores of the 
island immediately contiguous." 

The following is the clause of the will of Governor 
Arnold, referred to in the preceding statement : — 

" WiUing and appointing that, after my decease, 

my body may be decently interred by my executors, here- 
after in this writing named ; and the charge of such in- 
terment to be defrayed out of my personal estate. My 
body I desire and appoint to be buried at the north-east 
corner of a parcel of ground three rods square, being of 



20 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

and lying in my land, in or near the line or path from 
my dwellmg house leading to My Stone-built Wind- 
mill, m the town of Newport abovementioned." 

The Governor's request was strictly complied with. 
He lies interred in the tract of land here 'described, 
some rods below the old ruin, in the ground imme- 
diately adjoining the present Unitarian Church in 
Mill street. 

Antiquarians, like doctors, are apt to disagree. 
There are many learned men who are by no means 
disposed to embrace the prosaic and unromantic 
Windmill theory, and believe profoundly that the 
Danes fairly claimed it as a work of their early an- 
cestors. 

Professor Eafn, in the Memoires de la Societs 
Royale des Antlquaires du JSford for 1838, 1839, 
says : — 

"^ There is no mistaking in this instance the style in 
which the more ancient edifices of the North were con- 
structed, the style which belongs to the Roman or Ante- 
Gothic architecture, and which, especially after the time 
of Charlemagne, difi'used itself from Italy over the whole 
of the West and North of Europe, where it continued to 
predominate until the close of the 12th century: that 
style which some authors have, from one of its most 
striking characteristics, called the Round Arch style, the 
same which in England is called Saxon, and sometimes 
Norman architecture. 

" Of the ancient structure in Newport, there are no 
ornaments remaining which might p()ssll)ly have served to 
guide us in assigning the probable date of its erection. 
That no vestige whatever is found of the pointed arcli, 
nor any approximation to it, is indicative of an earlier^ 
rather than of a later, period. From such character- 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



31 



istics as remain, however, we can scarcely form any other 
inference than one, in which I am persuaded that all, 
who are familiar with old Northern architecture, will con- 
cur : THAT THIS BUILDING was ercctcd at a period, deci- 
dedly not LATER THAN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. This 

remark applies, of course, to the original building only, 
and not to the alterations that it subsequently received ; 
for there are several such alterations in the upper part of 
the building which cannot be mistaken, and which were 
most likely occasioned by its being adapted, in modern 
times, to various uses— for example, as the superstructure 
of a wind-mill, and latterly, as a hay magazine. To the 
same times may be referred the windows, the fire-place, 
and the apertures made above the columns ; that this 
building could not have been erected for a wind-mill is 
what an architect will easily discern." 

Longfellow, the poet, referring to this high autho- 
rity of Rafn's, in allusion to a poem — ''The Skel- 
eton in Armor" — in which he intimates a poetical 
use for the stone building, says : — 

"I will not enter into a discussion of the point. It is 
sufficiently well established for the purpose of a ballad ; 
though doubtless many an honest citizen of Newport, 
who has passed his days within sight of the round tower, 
will be ready to exclaim with Sancho : ' God bless me ! 
did I not warn you to have a care of what you were do- 
ing, for that it was nothing but a wind-mill '. and no one 
could mistake it, but one who had the like in his head !" 

Mr. Longfellow informs us that, having heard of a 
skeleton being dug up at Fall River, clad in broken 
and corroded armor, the idea occurred to him of 
connecting it with the Round Tower at Newport. He 
has thus linked the one with the other in most har- 
monious verse ; Viking's supposed skeleton is ad- 
dressing the poet in reply to his apostrophe: 



32 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

" As with his wings aslant, 
Sails the fierce cormorant, 
Seeking sonrie rocky haunt, 

With his prey Jaden ; 
So toward the open main. 
Beating to sea again, 
Through the wild hurricane, 
Bore I the maiden. 

"Three weeks we westward bore, 
And when the storm was o'er. 
Cloudlike we saw the shore 

Stretching to leeward ; 
There^for mijlady^s boiver^ 
Built I this lofty toiver^ 
Which, to this very hour, 

Stands looking seaward ! 

" There lived we many years ; 
Time dried the maiden's tears; 
She had forgot her fears ; 

She was a mother' 
Death closed her mild blue eyes ; 
Under that tower she lies ! 
Ne'er shall the sun arise 

On such another !" 

Poets have a prescriptive right to use licenses. 
We apprehend the lady must have had a bleak bower 
of it, and fear that unless she Avas a hardy blossom, 
she was early nipped. To be sure roses and eglan- 
tine would have teinpered the rough gales and ren- 
dered the grey stones less repulsive, but, on the 
whole, we incline to believe that the prosaic Raft? 
would not have assigned to the Newport ruin so 
elegant an origin as that hinted at by the genius of 
America's great poet. 

Mr. Joshua Toultnin Smith, in his " Northmen in 
New England, or America in the Tenth Century " rio-. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 33 

orously insists that this tower was built by the North- 
men. He asserts that, though it has been called a 
mill, in old deeds, no one ever heard of its being one, 
nor is there any record of its having been a mill. 
■'We know," he says, "that no Indians ever did, or 
ever could build it. It is certain that it has not been 
built by an Anglo-Saxon hand since this country was 
3olonized from England, else some record must re- 
main ; and none does exist, or has existed, within the 
Tiemory of man. It commands a full view of the 
[larbor and the opposite coast, thus forming a most 
idmirable place for look-out. We have seen it 
demonstrated from the manuscript documents, the 
3vidence of which we have examined, that the North- 
men resided in this neighborhood (Newport), for, at 
my rate, some years ; and it would certainly appear, 
from the manner in which it is stated, that each one, 
ifter Leif asked of him the uses of dwellings which 
lie had built, and which he agreed expressly to lend^ 
but not to give them, — thus implying that they would 
be available at a future day to himself; that the 
buildings erected here by the Northmen were sub- 
stantial, most probably of stone, as dioellings erected 
)y them are found to have been in Greenland. The 
strength and thickness of these walls correspond pre- 
cisely to the structure of the ruins found in Green- 
and. These points, then, presenting so many coin- 
cidences, and such difficulties existing as to the origin 
3f the structure, the question arises, to give these 
coincidences additional force : By whom can this 



Si HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

to^Ye^ possibly have been built, except by the North- 
men 1 We know that they were capable of building 
it, because we find structures, of the same age, and 
equal strength, and requiring as much skill, which are 
known to owe their origin to them. The obvious 
utility of such a building, as a place of look-out to 
them, I need not state." 

One more opinion from a source entitled to all re- 
spect. 

All the reading world is aware that Fenimore 
Cooper, in his " Red Rover," commenced with som.e 
graphic sketches in Newport. In the very stone ruin 
of which we have been speaking one of the early in- 
cidents is laid. To the edition of the tale recently 
published, Mr. Cooper added a preface, dated Jan. ], 
1S50, in which he says, with reference to that inci- 
dent : — 

" Those who are not content to accept a simple solution 
of this antiquarian problem, have assailed the innocent 
manner in which we have termed it a mill, and have 
claimed for the little structure an origin as remote as the 
times of the Northmen, who are supposed to have pre- 
ceded Columbus in his voyage to the Western Hemi- 
sphere. We pretend to no exclusive knowledge on the 
subject, never having seen this much-talked-of ruin hut 
once, and then only in a hurried visit of a single half 
hour. It must be confessed that it struck the writer as 
the very obvious remains of a wind-mill, and as nothing 
else ; though there may be better reasons than he can 
give to the contrary, for supposing it to have been erected 
for a fortress several centuries ago. We can imagine the 
use in placing a mill on arches, as it is a very sim|)le pro- 
cess, and one often had recourse to, in order to prevent 
the ravages of the mice ; but it is not so easy to see why 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 35 

;he extra labor of forming arches, the loss of room, and 
;he additional risk from lire, should all be voluntarily in- 
curred to raise up a fortress against savages. Under no 
jircumstances would it seem, could such a tovrer be less 
jxpensive, less difficult to construct, and less secure, by 
3uilding it up as a solid structure from the ground, than 
3y raising it in the air, on senseless but useless pillars, as 
iiust have been the case if we are to suppose the build- 
ng for the purposes of defence. The lower apartment, 
^hich, on this antiquarian theory, would be thrown away, 
night have been of great daily utility, as it certainly 
A'ould have added to the strength of the tower ; thus re- 
lucing these poor Northmen to the dilemma of having it 
nferred that their intelligence was of so low a stamp as 
;o lead them to expend their time and labor in raising 
m elaborate structure that would be less likely to eifect 
ill their objects than one more simple. 

******** 

" We have given our reasons here for disbeliev- 

Qg the theory of the citadel of the Northmen. If others 
5refer to tilt with a windmill we commend them to their 
)wn gallantry and the sympathy of Sancho Panza. Thank 
Beaven ! we have never published anything which in- 
r^olves the necessity of believing that four vessels, with 
;heir topsails aback, drifted round the earth in two hours 
md a half, in straight lines, regardless of isles and con- 
inents, which creates the necessity of supposing that a 
crippled craft will drift to windward; or have asserted that 
my particular battle, the property of the whole nation, 
jciongs to ' the naval annals of New York.' They who 
lavc maintained such historical and philosophical tours de 
vice are quite right to top off their mental labors by 
naintaining that the ' Newport Ruin ' was a dwelling 
)f the Caesars." 

So much for conflicting opinions. In all proba- 
Dility the question of windmill or fortress, — Look- 
out or Lady's bower, will remain a vexed one so long 
IS one stone of the old tower shall stand on another. 



36 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

The reader must form his own conjectures, and to 
such we leave him. 

We close our remarks with a few original lines. 



(^u tliB (Dto ItnM €mtx. 

Upon the hoary cliffs, in splendor, 

Is fading- evening's rosy beam ; 
And whilst ten thousand stars attend her. 

The moon ascends o'er town and stream ! 
On the dim sward the shadow falls 

Of this old tower's mysterious walls ; 
As if it were some gnomon vast, 

To chronicle the ages past ! 

To me, the sombre pile thus viewing. 

These stones, (to careless eyes so mean,) 
Take the sad grandeur of a ruin 

By quick imagination seen ! 
And here by memory's moon descried, 

Forms, mailed, or crown'd, to foncy, glide 
Each former occupant's mute ghost 

Swelling a disembodied host ! 

As when uprose this structure first, — 

— A tall, strange column, 'gainst the sky! 
So doth it, in its newness, burst 

On fancy's retroverted eye ; 
A pillar built of island stone ; 

Its use to roving tribes unknown ; 
A mystery on Aquidneck's shore, 

To Sachem and to Sagamore ! 

Oh ! that from out this pillared cirque, 
Some voice might issue — and to me 

Reveal who wrought this stonen work, 
In the vast hoar antiquity ! 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 37 

Tell why, within the forest shade, 
Pillar, and arch, and wall, were made ? 
And, when the toil was o'er at length, 
Whose dwelling was this tower of strength ? 

Vain wish ? — nought breaks the stillness here, 
Save night winds as they o'er me sweep, 

Bearing, unto my pensive ear 

The murmurs of the distant deep! 

Or hoot of owl, on shadowy wing 

O'er the dim landscape hovering; 

Or scream of sea-bird, far away 

Sounding, o'er Narragansett bay ! 

We trace some planet's radiant course; 

Tell when the comet shall return ; 
Measure the wind's resistless force; 

And nature's mighty secrets learn ; — 
Yet vain our toil when we begin 
Old tower, to trace thy origin ; 
And as thou art, thou aye wilt be 
A marvel, and a mystery ! 



38 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Coast Scenery — Peculiar Formation of Rocks — Geo- 
logical Speculations — Easton's Point — The Bluff 
— Purgatory — Legends — The Devil and the 
Squaw — The Lover's Leap. 

When Mrs. Hemans, in her fine poem of the " Pil- 
grim Fathers," described them as having landed on 
" The wild New England shore," she well de- 
scribed, though she had never seen it, the character 
of that iron-bound coast. Finer specimens of such 
bold scenery are nowhere to be seen than in the 
neighborhood of Newport. Gazing on the map of 
the islands of Narragansett Bay, a geologist might 
well imagine that in some far remote age, a mighty 
convulsion of nature violently separated them from 
the main land of which possibly they once formed a 
part, leaving them with jagged-edged shores, which, 
in the course of centuries, have been worn into high 
bluffs, rounded ledges, and smooth beaches, by the 
silent but surely progressive actions of wind and 
wave. 

The formation of the rocks which bound the south- 
ern shore of Rhode Island, and those particularly to 
the west of Newport, are of a peculiar organization. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 39 

About a mile and a half from the town is a remark- 
able range of cliffs formed of pudding-stone, exactly 
like that which abounds in the neighborhood of Bos- 
ton. These cliffs are upwards of forty feet in height, 
and contain a natural curiosity which we shall pres- 
ently describe. 

Some years ago, an American Savant^ who visited 
these rocks and was struck with their strangeness, 
gave it as his opinion that they were undoubtedly 
derived from the petrifaction of vegetable matter ; 
and he supposed that the progress of petrifaction had 
been going on probably a million of years ; perhaps 
two million ; and not improbably five or six. This 
hypothesis, however, will scarcely be entertained by 
any one who remembers that vegetable matter con- 
tains in itself no principle of petrifaction. A great 
deal might be said in contradiction to this philoso- 
pher's opinion, but this is a guide-book, not a geo- 
logical treatise — it is sufficient to say that such stones 
as are always found in the embosoming mass, and 
which represent the plums of the pudding-stone, 
are the very same, and lie in just such clusters as those 
embedded in the earth around them ; the pudding- 
stone is formed by the efficacy of a fluid, cementing, 
and thus petrifying, the earth ; and that its substance 
is not vegetable matter. 

PURGATORY. 

In the range of cliffs — there is, as we said, a na- 
tural curiosity — one of the " show places " of New- 



40 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

port, and M'ell worthy is it of a visit. Those whose 
tastes are rather dependent for their gratification on 
the productions of nature than on those of art, will 
prefer a ramble on the rocks to the examination of 
a ruin. Both possess their charms. We have, in 
the matter of the stone tower, spoken of man's work 
— let us now devote a page or two to the description 
of a specimen of that of the Divine Architect's 
doing. 

We will, for the purpose of acting as a guide 
to " Purgatory " — start not, reader, we are not 
about to guide you, like Dante, to that place 
mysterious, where Hamlet's father tells us, sins are 
" burnt and purged away " — but to an absolutely 
mundane scene. We will, we say, take a central 
starting place from the town, and no more conveni- 
ent one offers than that point where the Bath-road 
stretches from Touro-street. 

Proceeding along this thoroughfare, and passing 
on our way pleasant mansions — rural cottages, and 
broad fields, we arrive at Ocean Cottage, with its 
neat verandah running around it, and perched on a 
prominence from wiience a glorious view bursts upon 
the eye. Beneath and beyond us stretches the 
broad sea beach, — the blue Atlantic waves, crested 
with white sparkling foam, rolling gently along its 
yellow sands, or foaming around tiny rocks, sea- 
weed clad, where some clam-seekers are at work. 
Far away to the right, until lost in the hoi'izon, 
sweep the billows ; and on the left lie the still 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 41 

waters of the Big or Easton's Pond — a very wintry 
paradise for skaters. Right before us, stretches out 
Easton's Point into the ocean, forming the barrier of 
the lovely bay. Easton's beach we must speak of 
hereafter. So descending this hill, and, through shin- 
gles and shells, picking our pathway past the bath- 
ing houses, we travel pleasantly and at length ar- 
rive at a clear stream which forms the outlet from 
Easton's Pond, and which dancing over pebbles, and 
streaming in divided channels over the "ribbed sea 
sand," mingles its limpid waters with the brine of 
the Atlantic deep. 

There is no bridge by which you, our fair com- 
panion, may cross this foot-deep stream — no boat to 
ferry you across towards Purgatory ; but fear not, 
nor look with eager eyes at yonder wagon drawn by 
oxen, in the hope that it is coming hitherward and so 
enable you to ride across this pond-fed rivulet. See 
— it stops to take up a far less lovely load — a heap 
of stones. But, mark you, " Hope enchanted smiles, 
and" — beckons us a little way up the stream. Step- 
ping stones ! yes — here is an archless bridge — a 
pathway of large, unconnected fragments of rock — 
some round, and just glossed over with the running 
translucent water; some with sharp spiny backs 
emerging from the stream — others so flat that one 
might dance a hornpipe on them. Come, ven- 
ture with us, and our life on it, you shall go over 
dry shod. There, your hand ! and now, we have 
stepped safely half across — never mind a shaking 



42 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 

stone or so ; another jump — a wide one to clear 
the next sunken rock, and, — here we are on land — 
having safely crossed a bridge of laughter and not 
one of sighs ! 

Another walk on the sand, not so smooth as that 
behind us, for it is becomhig studded with stones, 
and our path is now and then blocked up with 
boulders. Now we ascend the rough slope and stand 
on the breezy summit of Easton's Point ! How soft 
feels the short turf beneath our feet ! How pure the 
air which our rejoicing lungs inhale ! How mag- 
nificent the prospect which delights our eyes ! 



" The sky is blue — the air is clear ; 

The waves are dancing fast and bright ! 
Blue isles and sunbright ocean wears 
The purple noon's transparent light." 



Far as the eye can reach in one direction is old 
Ocean rejoicing in its multitudes of waves. Right and 
left stretches out bold coasts whose crested summits 
are bright with verdure. White glistening dwellings 
with their green jalousies dot the landscape, and from 
clusters of trees peep out rural homes. Cattle are 
browsing on the meadows and on the hill-sides ; and 
the murmurs of the everlasting deep, like low dis- 
tant music, rolls its unceasing diapason upwards, and 
charms us with its natural melody. 

What is it which has just glided within our range 
of vision ? Near us white-sailed barks are dancing 
over the billows like sea-birds, but yonder a larger 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 43 

vessel than is wont to visit us is plunging through 
the brine. 

" Onwards it goes, a monstrous bark 
Without sails or oarsmen toiling ; 

Tall masts spring from its mighty hull, 
And a chimney, from which a coiling 

Dense smoke doth go, as if below 
The devil's-pot was boiling !" 

It is an ocean steamer — yes ! from this commanding 
eminence we behold one of those magnificent ships 
which have made the name of Collins illustrious in 
more hemispheres than one. Yonder is one of the 
great Atlantic ferry-boats — a floating bridge between 
the old world and the new. Frequently are the ships 
of the Collins's line seen from here, as they speed 
their way to or from New York. Sometimes a 
a mirage effect shows them when at a much greater 
distance, and then, 'tis said that the distant golden 
haze, like a gigantic camera screen, shows the refract- 
ed image of vessels sixty miles distant ! 

By far the pleasantest way to the place we are 
bound for is around the borders of the cliffs ; if time 
be an object, a direct path may be taken across the 
base of this tongue of land. Following the edge we 
arrive at the east side of Easton's Point, and from 
hence we are presented with a striking bit of land- 
scape. 

Looking in a northerly direction, we behold a 
group of rocks, broken and irregular, stretching out 
into the sea, which sends its foam fiercely against 



44: HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

their rugged sides ; whilst around them sea-birds 
wheel and scream. This bold headland is called 
The Bluff, an apt appellation. It is a favorite place 
of resort for artists, to whom the wild scenery atfords 
abundant employment for the pencil ; to the poet 
who delights 

" To sit on rocks — to muse o'er flood and fell,'' 

and to the disciples of dear old Izaac Walton, who 
here may enjoy, to their hearts' content, the gentle 
art, for tautog, bass, and many other fish are plenty. 
Lovers, too, are not unfrequently to be seen seated 
on the pudding-stone masses, tasting the blisses of 
solitude and sentimentalism. 

Scrambling over masses of rock, slippery with the 
most beautiful of mosses, such as keen admirers of 
the Cryptogamic species would scarcely pass by 
without specimenizing ; and keeping a sharp watch 
forward, we proceed for about a quarter of a mile. 
All at once we stop, with a vague feeling of alarm, 
and instinctively retrace a step or two. Had it 
been dark, and we strange to the place, a thousand 
to one that we had never been spared to pen this ac- 
count of our pilgrimage ! 

Gaze downwards ! 

Without warning, we have suddenly arrived at 
the very edge of a gulf, or fissure, or chasm in the 
solid rock ! No railing is round it to protect from 
peril. No friendly signboard with " Beware" writ- 
ten thereon to warn ofi* the unwarv. A student 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 45 

reading a book, might, in the middle of a pleasant 
paragraph, walk into the abyss — so sudden, so un- 
protected is the descent. 

For about one hundred and fifty feet from the 
perpendicular face of the cliff does the chasm ex- 
tend backwards. Standing on the sloping brink of 
its landward extremity, we perceive that it is a com- 
plete reft in the rock. The sides of the goi-ge are 
dark, smooth and perpendicular, and seem to have 
been torn asunder by some mighty effort or convul- 
sion of nature. Forty feet below is the water, like 
a strip of undulating slate-colored ribbon, excepting 
just at the entrance, where it is dappled with foam 
bubbles. In some places the distance between the 
two rocky faces is less than in others ; but it is so 
narrow at the bottom and half way up, that were 
there foothold, one might almost bestride the gulf 
like a Colossus. The chasm gradually widens at the 
top, where it is nearly twelve feet from brink to 
brink, one side being higher than the other. A 
stone thrown into this gloomy place, rebounds from 
side to side with a hollow sound, and then sullenly 
plunges into the daik waters beneath. How deep 
that gloomy gulf is — how far down those separated 
sides stand like opposing walls, the plumb-line of 
science has never yet fathomed. Just outside the 
channel the blue waves are ever dashing — within it, 
they subside into an unnatural smoothness — a feel- 
ing of strange melancholy creeps over the gazer into 
these mysterious depths, and fear chills him as he 



46 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

remembers that a loose pebble beneath his feet, or 
one slip on the grassy verge would precipitate him 
on the jagged rocks below, and thence into the 
dreary and unknown caverns which lurk unseen by 
mortal eyes. 

Gazing beyond the boundaries of this singular 
place, it is quite refreshing to behold the azure 
ocean, just as a glimpse of the glorious sky might 
gladden a captive emerging from his dungeon. 
Viewed from the sea, much of the romance of the 
fissure is lost — a wide crack in the clift' is all that 
can be observed — and a sketch from the land also 
fails to convey any adequate idea of its gloomy 
grandeur. 

Such is " Purgatory," the doleful name which 
was long ago conferred on the place by some one 
who perhaps imbibed its cheerless spirit. 

It would be strange, indeed, if a spot such as this 
had not given birth to legends and traditions. Sel- 
dom do we find a cavern without its catastrophe, a 
wild beach legendless, or a perilous place like Pur- 
gatory without its traditional hair-breadth escape. 
Accordingly, the supernatural and the startling have 
dominion here ; and no less a personage than his 
Satanic Majesty himself figures in one of the stories. 
Here is the legend of 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 47 

Years and years ago, after the Narragansett In- 
dians had sold to the white men their territorial 
possessions, they bethought them that they had 
made but a bad bargain of it. Nevertheless, they 
continued to live on good terms with their new 
neighbors, some of them even dwelling beneath 
the roofs of the Yengeese, as they termed them. 

One of the white men had in his house as a con- 
stant inhabitant an old Indian woman, who carried 
her hatred of the Yengeese to such a pitch, that one 
night, in a fit of passion, she murdered the master 
of the house, scalped him, and then, fearing the re- 
venge of his people, fled to the woods, in whose 
shade, according to the custom of her tribe, she 
offered up prayers to Satan. 

Whilst she was mumbling her devotions, the old 
crone heard a rustling among the boughs, and, look- 
ing round, she beheld a very stern-looking English 
gentleman near her. 

This individual very politely accosted her, and 
with a low bow begged the favor of her company 
for a short distance. The squaw began to fancy 
something wrong, and flatly refused, thinking, per- 
haps, that as she had done for one white man, she 
might venture to disregard another. But she reck- 
oned without her host this time, for the pretended 
Englishman was no other than the devil, who, as 
Southey says, was visiting 



48 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



His snug little farm, the Earth, 



To see how his stock went on." 

It was of no use her saying that she had particular 
business at Wickford, just in that neighborhood, 
and could not go. Seizing her by the arm, the fiend 
dragged her along, whilst from sheer fear she scream- 
ed to Hobomoko (the Indian name for devil) to 
save her. 

" I'm Hobomoko," said her companion, and with 
that he dropped his disguise. Seizing the unhappy 
squaw by the waist, he made one or two fierce 
stamps on the ground, and then flew away with his 
victim towards the gulf of Purgatory, into which he 
plunged with her. 

To this day may be seen near Wickford the foot- 
prints of Satan on the surface of a ledge near the 
road. One has the form of a cloven hoof, and the 
other has exactly the shape and size of a human 
foot, even to the mark of the great toe ; and if any 
one will turn to page 87 of Dr. Charles T. Jackson's 
" Eeport of the Geological and Agricultural Survey 
of Rhode Island," he will see an engraving of these 
very " foot-marks." Some folks allege that the 
marks also of the squaw's struggling hands are im- 
printed on the rocks also ; but of these the learned 
gentleman I have mentioned deposeth not. 

The other legend of Purgatory runneth in this 
wise ; it is called — 



HA2n)-B00K OF NEWPORT. 49 

" Once upon a time," a very wealthy gentleman 
had one fair daughter, whom he loved "passing 
well." All Sessawich and the land around was his ; 
so, of course, the heiress was a great object of at- 
traction to the young beaux of the neighborhood. 
Of these, one took her fancy, because he was elegant 
and accomplished ; but, though she favored his ad- 
dresses, she concealed her passion, intending so to 
show her power, and when she had half broken his 
heart to wed him. One day she walked with him 
to the brink of Purgatory, and said : — 

" For the love of me, darest thou to leap the 
chasm V 

The youth said naught, but looked at her with a 
sad smile, released her hand, and drew a pace or 
two backward. 

" What fearest thou f she exclaimed. " Now, 
verily I promise thee that if thou accomplishest this 
my task in safety, I will wed thee this day ; but if 
thou art craven, then art thou no true lover of mine." 

The youth drew yet farther back, then sprang for- 
ward — with one bound cleared the frightful abyss, 
and stood pale and stern on the other side. His 
eyes were fixed reproachfully on his mistress. 

" Now," said she, in admiration, " I am thine 
whenever thou wilt." 

But he made no sign of joy — scorn sat on his lip. 
With heartfelt words he praised her beauty, and 



50 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

then ironically spoke of the goodness of her heart. 
Then he bade her farewell for ever, and so departed, 
leaving her to bemoan her cruelty, and to bewail 
for her lost lover. 

It is very probable that Leigh Hunt had this story 
in his mind when he wrote his charming ballad of 
" The Glove and the Lions," the end of the adven- 
ture being similar. King Francis of France gave to 
his courtiers a lion fight for their sport. Among 
them was De Lorge and his lady love. The King 
expressed an opinion that it w^as better to be in the 
boxes than in the arena among the lions ; and De 
Lorge's damsel hearing him, to show the bravery 
and love of her betrothed for her, threw her glove 
among the furious beasts. 

" She dropped her glove to prove his love, then looked at him 

and smiled; 
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild. 
The leap was quick — return was quick — he has regained the 

place ; 
Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's 

face. 
' By God !' cried Francis, ' rightly done !' and he rose from 

where he sat ; 
' No love,' quoth he, ' but vanity, sets love a task like that.' " 

Such is Purgatory, and such are the legends con- 
nected with it. Let us return and refresh ourselves 
for a brief season, for wg have not half explored this 
interesting neighborhood. In our next chapter we 
will seek 

" Fresh fields and pastures new." 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 51 



CHAPTER V. 



Robins — Ellison's Rock — Fish of Newport and Nar- 

RAGANSETT BaY HiNTS TO AnGLERS TuRBOT — ThE 

" Forty Steps " — Conrad's Cave — Summer and 
Winter Scenery— Sea- weed. 

A BRIGHT, cool, shadowless morning. Last night 

" The cups of the heavy flowers 

Were filled with the rain of the thunder showers ;" 

but now, in the words of the old hymn-writer, all 
things 

" Rejoice, for Heaven is clear, 
And all the clouds are gone !" 

On leaf and spray hang dewy diamond drops, that 
fall in glittering showers when shaken by the up- 
springing of slender branches which had been bent 
downwards by the resting robin. And, talking of 
robins, what multitudes of them are singing around 
us ; yet we may scarcely call them by such a name, 
for robins, in truth, they are not. The bird which 
the " Children in the Wood " story has rendered 
sacred, is a little, round, plump, ball of a bird, with 
an eye black as a shining bead, and not unlike that 



62 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

of an Indian baby's in expression. A gay-throated, 
pugnacious, domestic little bird is the Robin Red- 
breast, not above half as big as the red-throated 
thrush of this country — for a thrush of this kind is 
the American warbler. It has been conjectured by 
some that these " robins " build and breed in the 
marshes of our neighborhood, so suddenly do they 
appear in the spring. Be this as it may, they charm 
us with their melody, and we welcome them from 
whencesoever they come. 

We are bound for Conrad's Cave, a highly pic- 
turesque little bay, scooped out by old Ocean from 
the cliff side. But we will not as yet describe it, 
for ere we reach that spot, we must visit another 
scene of attraction. 

When we visited " Purgatory," we took a certain 
starting point for the sake of simplifying the route,, 
and of performing the office of a guide. So will we 
do on the present occasion ; therefore, gentle reader, 
stand with us near the southern extremity of Thames 
street, just where Narragansett avenue commences. 

This avenue we travel in a perfectly straight line, 
with our backs toward the setting sun, or to the 
place where he will set by and by. It leads us 
direct to the cliffs, and we rest ourselves for a time 
upon Ellison's Rock. 

This rock is the centre one of a chain which runs 
out from where the Forty Steps (of which more 
anon) are placed. Are you a brother of the rod, 
reader? If so, here may you gratify yourself to 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWrOET. 53 

your heart's content ; for this is a famous place for 
Tautog, ^Yhich can almost always be caught on a 
flood- tide, except when the sea is running so high as 
to prevent the angler getting a foothold. 

And here it may not be amiss, as we are in a pis- 
catory locality, to state that Newport is as good a 
fish market as any in the United States. The fol- 
lowing, in their season, may generally be procured 
in the town : — 

Bass, Small Mackerel, 

Sea Bass, Oyster, 

Bluefish, Plaice, 

Canchogset, Quahaug, 

Mud Clam, Sheepshead, 

Green Crab, Tautog, 

Lam.prey Eel, Tom Cod, 

Common Eel, Mud Turtle, 

Frostfi^h, Toad Turtle, 

Haddock, Terrapin, 

Halibut, Loggerhead Turtle, 

Lobster, Codfish, 

Round Mackerel, Redfin Perch. 

Of the fish fit for table beside these, here is a 
goodly Newportian list : — 



Alewife, 


Sea Perch, 


Anchovy, 


Pond Perch, 


Brill, 


Rudderfish, 


Boneta, 


Roach, 


Beach Clam, 


Scappague, 


Sea Crab, 


Succotergue, 


Drum, 


Sturgeon, 


Sea Eel, 


Salmon, 


Flounders, 


Shad, 


Flyingfish, 


Smelt, 



54: 



HAl^D-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



Hake, 

Herring, 

Mullet, 

Black Muscle, 

Pale Muscle, 

Menhaden, 

Spanish Mackerel, 

Pout, 

Pike, 

Pumpkinfish, 

Pollock, 



Silverfish, 

Escalop, 

Shrimp, 

Shiner, 

Thorn back. 

Trout, 

Whiting, 

Winkle, 

Dolphin, 

Fresh water Sucker, 

Horse Mackerel. 



The other fish which are found here and in the 
neighboring waters are : — 



Brill, 


Squid, 


Billfish, 


Swordfish, 


Chiving, 


Trout, 


Cask, 


Sunfish, 


Catfish, 


Horsefoot, 


Crawally, 


Fresh water Clam, 


Maid, 


Dogfish, 


Seal, 


Eggfish, 


Ship Jack, 


Sand Eel, 


Suckingfish, 


Grunt, 


Sager, 


Lancet, 


Thornback, 


Lumpet, 


Whale, 


Periwinkle, 


Portuguese Man-of-War, 


Sting Ray, 


Cockle, 


Soal, 


Concle, 


Sea Snail, 


Sand Crab, 


Taspuin, 


Spider do., 


Toad fish. 


Running do., 


Wilke, 


Dace, 


Pickerel, 


Porpoise, 


Razor Clam, 


Shark, 


Starfish. 


Skate, 





We have intimated that tautog is very plentiful 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 55 

on the coasts round Newport, and it seems they have 
always been so ; for Dr. Smith, in his "Natural His- 
tory of the Fishes of Massachusetts," says : — " With- 
in the recollection of gentlemen now living, the tau- 
tog was unknown in the neighborhood of Boston. A 
subscription was successfully undertaken for bringing 
several of them alive in cars from Newport, R. I., 
which were supposed to be the first of the species 
which had ever been to the eastward of the Cape." 

No coasts can be better suited for the haunts of 
this fish than those in this vicinity, for they are 
always most abundant in the neighborhood of rocks, 
reefs jutting into the ocean, and over rocky bottoms. 
After severe weather commences, they cease to feed, 
and they only regain their appetite about April. 
When the dogwood blossoms (in April) some fisher- 
men say the fish begin to thrive. Dr. Mitchell in- 
forms us that the New York fishermen are guided as 
to their time of commencing the tautog fishery by 
the chestnut leaves. 

It may be as well to inform those visitors who 
may be desirous of enjoying this sport, that a thunder 
shower, accompanied with lightning, is said invari- 
ably to disperse them from their accustomed places 
of resort, and that a north-east wind is a sure indica- 
tion of poor success in fishing for them. 

We have been informed on reliable authority, that 
turbot, such as is caught on the British shores, exist 
in the waters of this neighborhood ; and naturalists 
have supposed that a fish called the pearl (one of 



56 HAND-EOOK OF NEWPORT. 

the plaice tribe), of Boston, is that which is called 
the American turbot — a species which some have 
declared to be identical with the London aldermanic 
favorite. Wm. Ladd, Esq., of Maine, informed Dr. 
Smith that when the English fleet visited Boston, 
and held possession of the town, the officers were 
bountifully supplied with turbot, which were caught 
in the neighborhood of the outer harbor. He further 
remarked, that about all they did while here was to 
eat them ! 

It is very possible, we think, that the genuine tur- 
bot does exist in these waters about Rhode Island. 
As yet, it has not been sought for in the right way. 
The usual mode in England is to use a line a mile 
in length, from which short lines drop into the water, 
supported by buoys. When the fishermen perceive 
that a sufficient number of fish are fast to compen- 
sate for drawing the warp, the two extremities of the 
rope are dragged to land. 

In the list of fish we have given, is one named the 
Menhaden. From July to the last of August, the 
bays swarm with them ; they are from ten to fourteen 
inches long. In the bays and inlets of Massachu- 
setts, such vast shoals of the Menhaden are taken, that 
besides being smoked for food, far greater numbers 
are distributed over the fields for manure. 

The horse mackerel is at certain seasons found in 
these waters in enormous quantities, and afford great 
sport. A piece of white rag is carefully flistened to 
a hook which the fish seizes greedily. In fact, they 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 57 

will bite at almost anything. They are fine table 
fish. 

From this icthyological digression we must return 
to the neighborhood of Ellison's Kock. 

Near this locality, the visitor will observe as he 
shoots along the edge of the cliff", a friendly staircase 
of wood, by which he can with safety descend to the 
shingley little beach below. This staircase is known 
as " the Forty Steps," and was placed here by a 
wealthy and considerate gentleman, whose name ought 
to be held in grateful remembrance by all who 
know by painful experience " how hard it is to climb," 
and do not feel inclined, whilst descending these 
steep rocks, to learn too rapidly " the art of sink- 
ing." Unfortunately the philanthropist's name is 
forgotten, or so little remembered, that we have 
been unable to link his name with his "good work" 
on these pages. 

These steps enable visitors without any difficulty 
to visit what is called Conrad's Cave, a name which 
at once calls up recollections of that magnificent Cor- 
sair, and of the gentle Medora, the rover's bride. 
Those, however, who, with Byron's splendid creation 
in mind, imagine that they will find a pirate's strong- 
hold beneath these cliffs, will be disappointed — for 
cave of any kind there is none. At one time, indeed, 
there was a cavity, but time and the waves of the 
Atlantic have washed away all traces of it. 

But to those who love natural scenery, this charm- 
ing little bay at the steps' foot will be delightful in- 



58 HAND-BOOK OF ISTEWPORT. 

deed. As we wind round the rocks in our descent, 
all its beauties at once burst upon us. It is a rocky 
amphitheatre, filled with natural seats, on which we 
may sit and fancy some " old Triton " before us 
"winding his wreath'd horn." There, resting, one is 
completely shut in — the high lichen-studded rocks 
behind, the jutting crags on either side, and ocean's 
boundless blue before us, and the quiet sky bending 
over all. 

A favorite spot is this — and if report speaks truly, 
no better one could be " for whispering lovers made." 
We will engage for it, that many a bashful beau has 
plunged fearlessly into incipient matrimony, and that 
many a blushing belle has " referred to Pa " in this 
soothing place ! A moonlight ramble here is one of 
the most delicious things in the world, at least so we 
may guess, if the silvery laughter which echoes from 
the rocks in this vicinity be any indication of delight. 
For a charming solitude, commend us to the beach of 
the Forty Steps ! 

Bright is it in summer, when pendent from the 
cliffs are wild flowers, and when the mosses gaily 
adorn the boulders; — when the clear cold water 
oozes through the interstices of the cliffs, and trickles 
down in pebbly channels to meet the ocean and be 
lost in its embrace ; — and when the chiming song of 
the waves harmonizes with the tone of the dreamy 
mind — pleasant and bright is at all times — for every 
season adorns it with its own peculiar beauty. 

Even winter glorifies it ! Not soon shall we forget 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 59 

a ramble thither in the time of snow and ice. It was 
a bright, sharp morning, and as Leigh Hunt says, 
there was 

" A crystal clearness all about." 

Crisp was the snow beneath our feet as we sought 
the Forty Steps, adown which now slippery staircase 
we travelled with a fair and fearless companion. So 
cold was it, that every fleck of foam as it dashed on 
the shingles was instantly transformed from a glit- 
tering pearl to a translucent diamond — frozen from 
one gem into another as evanescent ! Glassed with 
ice were the large stones, but that we heeded not, for 
before us was a magnificent sight. It was as if, 
Aladdin-like, and led by a good Fairy, we had de- 
scended into a coral cavern, so white, so glittering, 
and so exquisitely beautiful was the frost tracery on 
the grasses of the clifi", and on the cliffs themselves. 

We have seen pictures of the real Grotto of Anti- 
paros, and fancy sketches in story books of enchant- 
ed chambers beneath the Indian seas ; and we had 
often, in dreams, wandered through Arabian Nights 
sort of places, full of glittering glories — but we had 
never before beheld the genuine Ice Palace of King 
Frost ! We were, however, in its vestibule then ! 

The water streaming from the crevices of the over- 
hanging rock aloft, had formed itself into a thousand 
fantastic forms — and gigantic icicles descended from 
the various ledges, " clear as elemental diamonds." 
The droppings from some of these had also congeal- 



60 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

ed, SO that the ascending met the descending ice and 
blended harmoniously, as some gracious great one 
mingles its common nature with that of some hum- 
bler son of mortality. Fragile stalactites and sta- 
lagmites, not hidden like their petrified brethren in 
vast caverns, and only visible by torch light — but 
shining in all the beauty of the morning, and irri- 
descent with its hues. But "all that's bright must 
fade," and lo! even as we admired, " Ichabod " was 
written on the glittering element, and in liquid tears 
the glory gradually departed. 

But we have not done chronicling the attractions of 
this beautiful place. Have you ever seen, reader, 
elegantly arranged on card-board, and disposed in 
countless graceful ways those flowers of the ocean- 
sea- weeds ? Doubtless you have. Well, on these 
Conrad Cave rocks may be gathered the choicest 
specimens. All along the shore may be found weeds 
scarce and fine, but this appears to be the choice 
garden where the loveliest of the tribe flourish — we 
were about to say, bloom — and why not? for in 
gorgeous tints, grace of form, variety of color, and 
delicacy of detail, they rival those buds which are 
the poetry of earth. The lady visitors of Newport 
may here gather marine boquets " rich and rare " 
indeed, and when, with delicate fingers, they have 
spread out and displayed their rainbow hues and 
gracefully branching filaments, they may, without 
fear of disparagement, place them beside the exotics 
of the green-house. True, they are odorless, but 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 61 

they have a compensating charm, for when the rose 
leaf fades, when the lily hangs its discolored head, 
when the violet loses its azure, and the fragrant he- 
liotrope blackens, when in short, the bee itself would 
see no beauty in the pasture over which, like a flat- 
tering lover, it hovered when all was bright, but 
which now deserts it like a faithless wooer, then^ the 
sea-flowers will return all their splendor, and — 

" Remind us of summer when summer is gone." 
Aye, and of those rambles too, which made up so 
large a portion of that summer's delight ! 

We think we have said enough to induce every 
reader of this book to visit Ellison's Rock and 
Conrad's Cave. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Excursion to Coggeshall Ledge — Beautiful Man- 
sions — The Robin Orchard — Lovely Beach— The 
Ledge — The Gully — Boat House— Fort Adams. 

It is hardly possible to imagine a more delight- 
ful mode of spending a few hours, than by taking a 
trip to Coggeshall's Ledge, a point of land jutting 
into the Atlantix?., and lying in nearly a southerly di- 
rection from the town. 

The distance is not such as to preclude pedes- 
trianizing, which in this as in all other cases is by far 
the best way of enjoying scenery. To those, how- 
ever, who cannot stand the fatigue of walking, it may 
be mentioned that a carriage can be driven from 
Newport to the very verge of the ledge of rocks. 
In the case of invalids who may wish for a ramble 
on the soft sward with which the cliffs are covered, 
a ride thither would be indispensable. 

Pursuing our adopted plan of naming a starting 
point, we now commence our short southern tour 
from the Atlantic House. 

The eastern wing of this spacious hotel is bound- 
ed by South Touro street, down which we proceed, 
passing the terminations of Prospect Llill, John, 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 63 

Levin, and William streets. On our left are various 
establishments, such as bowlmg alleys, &c., dottmg 
the green-sward and looking brilliant in the sunshine. 
To our right, the mansion built by the late H. A. 
Middleton, Esq., attracts attention. It is a most 
elegant edifice and finely situated. A little farther 
onwards, we arrive at the Ocean House, whose 
many pointed gables, and cool-looking verandahs 
form no inconsiderable feature of the scene. Oppo- 
site this is the beautiful dwelling of George S. Jones, 
Esq., its air of retirement contrasting with the busy 
human hive on the other side of the road. South 
and Bellevue streets are left behind with the fine 
residence of H. D. Eham, Esq., and we are charmed 
with the air of taste which distinguished the house of 
Mrs. Harper, who claims a truly illustrious lineage, 
she being the daughter of Charles Carroll, of Carroll- 
ton, one of the most distinguished signers of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

At an angle of the road formed by Bellevue street 
and Narragansett avenue, stands the very lovely re- 
sidence of Albert Sumner, Esq., an Elizabethan 
building of considerable architectural merit. Leav- 
ing this behind us on our left, we proceed along the 
avenue until we reach Spring street, into which we 
turn. But we must not proceed without directing 
the attention to the mansions of R. B. Ives, and 
Charles Lyman, Esqrs., and that of the Hon. W. B. 
Lawrence, on Ochre Point. 

A circular building ahead reminds us somewhat 



64: HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

of a railway station, or of an engine-house, but as 
we draw nearer, the figure of a cow sharply defined 
against the clear blue sky, intimates that it is a barn. 
A few yards further on, and a substantial farm-house 
is on our right hand. Adjoining it is a large yard in 
which are some chubby-looking children, a flock of 
splendid turkeys, and a large poultry population. 
The land around is remarkably fine, and capitally 
farmed by Mr. Anthony. 

We were much struck with the orchard — it was 
extensive, and contained many a picturesque apple 
tree — but many of them were now mere cumberers 
of the ground, and some, as cumberers should be, 
were in process of removal. They must have yield- 
ed their fruit before the Revolution, and who knows 
what scenes they witnessed? Would that there 
were matter-of-fact, and not metaphorical tongues in 
some trees, that they might tell us stories of their 
slim youth, and of their green and golden prime ! 

Elsewhere, we have spoken of the robins, or red- 
throated thrushes. Should the eye of any lover of 
bird-music light on these pages, he will thank us for 
informing him that in this road-side orchard, these 
birds "most do congregate." It is their favorite re- 
hearsing place ; and here, at early morning, and in 
the quiet evening, amid the foliage dim, they fold 
their wings, and 

" Sing of Summer in full-throated ease." 
Pause, wanderer, on your walk, and listen to these 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 65 

cheerful choristers, so shall the natural melody de- 
light you, and you will go on your way rejoicing ! 

We have left many a fair dwelling behind, and 
now quitting the road we stand on the velvet sward. 
On onr right hand stretch the quiet waters of 
Almy's Pond, and between us and it a flock of fine 
sheep are grazing. Away in the distance are breezy 
downs, and hoary bluffs, of hues, such as time and 
storm only could transfer to them. Here and there, 
dwellings which must command superb scenery are 
discernible. At a little distance and below, is one 
of the tiniest and most beautiful of beaches, over 
whose smooth yellow sands blue weaves, in graceful 
curves, and fringed with white foam, roll with a grace- 
ful ease that tempts us to rush and meet them. 
Right under the road, which we have regained, is a 
rocky nook, from which spring up half a dozen wdld 
fowl, w ho on noiseless wings dart seaward — and see ! 
on the intensely bhie waters of the Atlantic, half a 
mile from land floats a large white bird, its fair form 
rising and falling with the undulations of the great 
deep, whose glassy surface reflects the ocean-loving 
creature, which like Wordsworth's swan — 

" Floats double, bird and shadow -p 

Reminding us, too, of Mrs. Browning's (late Eliza- 
beth B. Barrett), Sea Mew — 

"How joyously the young sea-mew 
Lay dreaming on the waters blue. 
Whereon our little bark had thrown 
A forward shade, the only one, 
(But shadows oft will men pursue,) 



CG nAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

Familiar with the waves and free 
As if their own white foam were he ; 
His heart upon the heart of ocean, 
Lay, learning all its mystic motion. 
And throbbing to the throbbing sea." 

Who would think, while gazing upon such a placid 
spectacle — on such a 

"Perfect form in perfect rest," 

on such a smiling sea — that storms could ever mar 
its repose *? Yet such often happen, for when mighty 
winds are " flying all abroad," there are few places 
more fearful than this. Alas ! these rocks and reefs 
have crashed in many a keel ; broken up many a 
stately ship ; and the cry of many a drowning sailor 
has risen from among those cruel and treacherous 
capes : but we must pursue our journey. 

Here we are near Coggeshall's Ledge, which 
forms the south-eastern extremity of the " Neck." 
This ledge is composed of large masses of Gneiss, 
which rising high above the sea, forms a break-water 
within which boats can safely land. Between the 
ledge and the island is a rocky indentation, known as 
the Gully, into which on a gentle slope is a contri- 
vance for launching boats, and in the gully itself, 
when the tide flows, tautog or black-fish may be 
readily caught. 

The visitor who may feel inclined to leave the 
shore and venture " outside," may here find able and 
experienced men and staunch boats. By the aid of 
these he may visit the extremity of the ledge, where 
ho can enjoy capital sport. 



HAI^D-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 07 

Near the gully is a house — a great place of resort 
in the season ; albeit, it exhibits not on its front or 
sides the adornments of architecture. This is the 
place to eat tautog in perfection. " First catch your 
fish," as Mrs. Glasse would say, (that is, depend on 
it — half the charm of a piscatorial dinner,) then go 
to the gully boat-house and have it broiled before 
your eyes and under your own keen inspection. 
When it is done, (and to be done well, it should be 
done quickly,) do not insult the remains of the juicy 
departed by sauces ; let salt and pepper, or, if you 
like it, a little lemon juice and cayenne be your only 
condiments ; then eat and rejoice, for verily you will 
be satisfied. Or, do you wish a chowder 1 produce 
your spoils, and take a turn on the rocks whilst it is 
being cooked ; then absorb, not eat^ the apician con- 
coction, and be thankful, for such fare the gods do not 
vouchsafe every day to us poor mortals ! 

From Coggeshall's ledge we can see, almost 
at all times, many large vessels — some Boston bound 
from the south, and others on their way thither. 
The ocean is almost always dotted with white sails, 
which agreeably enliven the scene. On the whole, 
this spot, as a point for sea-view and landscape, can 
scarcely be surpassed. Far away to the right may 
be seen the Connecticut shore, and, on the left, the 
prospect is bounded by a range of out-stretching 
rocks. 

We must not quit the ledge without a mention of 
the worthy after whom it is named — Mr. John Cog- 



b(5 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

geshall. This gentleman died in 1647, at which pe- 
riod he was in high office. He lies on the Coggeshall 
burial-place, a little south of Newport. The follow- 
ing is the inscription on his tombstone : 

" Here lyeth the Body of 

John Coggeshall, Sen., Esq., 

who died the first President of the Colony, the 27th 

of Nov., 1647, aged about 56 years." 

In our homeward walk, we observe the noble man- 
sion of W. S. Wetmore, Esq., which, though yet un- 
finished, gives ample promise of future splendor. It 
has risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of a former 
dwelling, which, just as it was completed, was con- 
sumed by fire. We also notice the handsome and 
well-appointed residence of Mrs. Bruen, which is 
charmingly placed. 

Fort Adams, with its long range of fortifications, 
lying on a spur of land, and occupying a most com- 
manding position, next attracted our notice. Above 
it, in the air, proudly floated the National flag, which 
looked like the guardian genius of the place. By 
and by we saw towering before us the superb Ital- 
ian-looking mansion of Edward King, Esq. Then 
we came abreast of the double-turreted Coddington 
mill — then the houses became less distant from one 
another ; then we passed the new Roman Catholic 
chapel, and, turning to the right, by the Congrega- 
tional church, in Pelham street, reached, in a minute 
or so, the spot from whence we started, having in our 
circuit experienced a perfect "round of enjoyment." 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. CO 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Beaches — Easton's Beach — Bathing and Bathers 
— Fashionable Aquatics — Amusing Scenes — Sketch- 
es IN THE Crowd — Story of the "Sea Bird." 

The Beaches ! There is something delightful in the 
very tone of the word ! To people who, month 
after month, are pent in populous cities, there is a 
positive coolness in the sound of it. On bright, sum- 
mer days, when the stifling heat causes one to pant and 
perspire, how welcome the mere idea of a watering 
place, such as Newport ! How absolutely rejoicing 
the sensation when, standing on sand or shingle, we 
feel the salt-sea breeze fanning our brows ! 

In the vicinity of Newport are four beaches : two 
large ones — Easton's and Sachuest, and a small one, 
Smith's, lying to the east of the town ; and one, Al- 
my's, southward, near Coggeshall's Ledge. Of these, 
Easton's Beach is the most contiguous, being about 
half a mile from the principal hotels, and is the most 
available for bathing purposes. Sachuest is the 
largest and most picturesque ; the two others are re- 
garded rather as agreeable features in the scenery 
than as bathing places, or promenades. For pic-nics, 
Almy's, especially — they are all that can be wished. 
4* 



70 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

In our notice of the various beaches, we will first 
take the one which lies nearest the town, and which 
is the most frequented of all. 

To arrive at Easton's Beach we must take the Bath 
road, which leads directly to it. After we have placed 
about half a mile between ourselves and the town, 
we stand on the brow of a slope, from whence the 
whole extent of the sands is visible. Here, on our 
right, is Ocean Cottage, and beyond, stretches away 
a long line of bold cliffs, the prospect terminating at 
Ochre Point — Conrad's Cave being situated about 
half-way between us and it. On the South, the beach 
is bounded by the ocean, and, on the Bast and West, 
by rocky points. Northward is a beautiful back- 
ground, consisting of highly cultivated farms, and of 
picturesque country-seats, placed on the most charm- 
ing situations. Towards the sands, the land slopes 
gracefully, and the beautiful sheet of water, known 
as Easton's Pond, mirrors the landscape in its glassy 
depths. This pond, which is separated from the sea 
by a broad belt of sand, abounds in fish. In winter, 
it is a favorite resort for skaters — and in all seasons 
it is a distinguishing feature of the landscape. 

Descending the road from the Ocean Cottage, we 
get to the shingles ; or, if preferable, a nearer cut to 
them may be made by scrambling down in front of 
the wall near the upper end of the long low beach, 
which, covered with pen-knife autographs of former 
visitors, forms a lounging and gossiping place. It 
!s somewhat amusing, the efforts made by certain 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 71 

enthusiastic individuals to obtain a wooden immor- 
tality by inscribing their initials — in some instances 
their entire names — on this perishable tablet. Here 
and there are indications of sea-side flirtations in the 
shapes of engraved hearts, within whose deeply cut 
outlines are the initials of a loving pair. Very pos- 
sibly, in some cases, the passion was even more 
ephemeral than its record — but we must not senti- 
mentalize ! 

The beach is one of the finest in the world. Many 
have we visited, abroad and at home, but in our opi- 
nion this, whether as it regards beauty or utility, 
cannot be surpassed. The much-vaunted beaches 
on the coast of England are tame and insignificant 
in comparison. But, speaking of these, it may be 
mentioned that they possess one feature of attraction 
to which Easton's beach is a stranger. We allude 
to the pretty detached cottages, encircled by neat 
gardens, which skirt them, and by their near neigh- 
borhood to the sea, at once afford delightful accom- 
modation and impart a liveliness to the w^hole scene. 
Let any one glance at views of Weymouth, Brigh- 
ton or Torquay, and he will observe how vastly the 
picturesque cottages he sees delineated on the 
ocean's verge, add to the comfort and beauty of 
the beaches. 

And now we tread on the hard, smooth sands of 
Easton's beach. The tide is flowing, and a brisk 
breeze sweeps from the sea. Ear away is seen 

" Some glittering ship that hath the plain 
Of ocean for her vast domain." 



Y2 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

And nejirer, gay pleasure parties are cruising about 
the bay. But it is on the beach itself that the live- 
liest picture is presented — a feature, which, seen 
from a balloon, at a great height, might be taken for 
a view in the field of an animated Kaleidoscope. 

The beach is crowded with bathers, in all stages of 
the dipping process. Some are just entering the 
tiny houses, and these have the distinctive recogniz- 
able traits of the human animal ; but watch them 
when they emerge, and wonder at the change. It is 
as though the bathing house was a chrysalis in which 
an amazing transformation had been effected, for the 
lady who entered it — a charming, lovable sort of 
creature — emerges from it a marine monster ! And 
there are whole shoals of such at this moment, splash- 
ing and paddling in the water with all their might, 
as unlike mermaids as possible, seeing that those 
traditionary ladies of the ocean are not in the habit 
of wearing any other covering than their skins, and 
are never to be seen without a comb in one hand, 
and a pocket mirror (where is their pocket ?) in the 
other. 

Nothing can well be more amusing than the scene 
on Easton's Beach at bathing time. From nine until 
twelve o'clock, there is to be seen over the office of 
the bathing houses a white flag fluttering in the sun 
and the breeze. That bit of bunting is the signal 
that the three hours mentioned are those durinor 
which ladies and gentlemen may bathe in costume. 
At nine o'clock, then, the entertainments commence. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 73 

Then, from every hotel, boarding house and private 
dwelling, may be seen issuing numberless groups of 
gentlemen and countless bevies of beauties. Every 
horse's head is turned in the direction of the beach. 
All along the Bath road is a rush of vehicles, laden 
with loveliness and fashion. Gaily sparkle the bright 
portions of the harness of each well-appointed team, 
and brilliant are the liveries of the " Jeames Yellow- 
plushes " who direct and control them. Cranch, 
cranch, cranch the wheels go over the gravel, and 
then noiselessly they glide along the smooth sand. 
Pedestrians, too, saunter gently along, and the beach 
of which we erewhile spoke is occupied by the most 
persevering of smokers, and the most indefatigable 
of whittlers and autograph cutters. 

Here and there wander about comfortable-looking 
and well-to-do stout gentlemen, whose bathing as 
well as dancing days are over. Some are much like 
those specimens of the genus homo referred to by 
poor Theodore Hook, who are always to be found at 
fashionable watering places, hob-nobbing with every- 
body, and taking huge "sniffs of the briny." And 
there are, too, seated on camp- stools, in retired spots, 
fading old folks ; and a quick eye soon discerns among 
them such a one wandering about as Dr. Holmes so 
felicitously hits off with that brilliant pen of his. 

" They say that in his prime, 
Ere the pruning knife of Time 

Cut him down, 
Not a better could be found 
By the crier in his round 

Through the town. 



74 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

" But now he walks the streets, 
And he looks at all he meets 

Sad and wan, 
And he shakes his feeble head, 
That it seems as if he said, 

' They are gone.' 
■X- * * * * * 
" Now his nose is thin, 



And it rests upon his chin, 

Like a staff; 
And a crook is in his back, 
And a melancholy crack 

In his laugh." 

Tn short, on a fine bathing day, during the season, no 
more complete epitome of society could be found 
anywhere than on Easton's Beach. 

But the grand scene in the extemporized comedy 
is that which is presented when all the ladies and 
gentlemen en costume are congregated, waist-deep in 
water, on the beach. And such costumes ! There 
is not an imaginable color under heaven w^hicli might 
not be seen bobbing up and down in the waves. All 
the fishes that ever glided through all the coral 
groves in the seas round Ceylon never looked brighter 
and gaudier than do these dashing, splashing biped?. 
Such dresses — such patterns — such hats — such caps 
— and such an absence of starch and crinoline ! Most 
diverting are the amphibious coquetries of the ladies, 
and the marine politeness of the gentlemen ; and 
most ludicrous are the figures of the fair, as, anything 
but Venus-like, they rise from the sea, and seek the 
shelter of the bathing boxes, their wet garments 
around thorn 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 75 

" Clinging like cerements." 
But they amply make up for their moist dishabille 
by their rosy, refreshed and beaming looks, when 
they once more come forth, like rosy Christians, 
from their sea-side toilets. 

The beach is alive now with departing equipages ; 
and as the last bonnets are seen flying past Ocean 
Cottage, on their way back to Newport, the white 
flag is hauled down, and up goes a blood-red banner 
in its place. This is the signal that, abandoning 
costume, persons who prefer nude bathing may now 
take their recreation. This privilege lasts until three 
o'clock. In the evening, servants and others gene- 
rally enjoy a salt-water bath. Thus all have reason 
to bless the waves and breezes of Easton's Beach. 

This beach is a mile, or perhaps a trifle more, in 
length. At its eastern end is a road which leads to 
Purgatory and the Second Beach. This is one of 
the most beautiful drives on the island, and is daily 
thronged by the seekers after health and happiness. 

Connected with this beach a remarkable story is 
related which reads more like romance than reality — 
nevertheless it is strictly true. 

In the year 1750 some farmers and fishermen who 
inhabited a cluster of dwellings near the water, ob- 
served one fine morning a vessel in the ofiing. At 
first she did not attract any particular notice, such a 
sight being then, as now, not uncommon. It was 
perceived, however, after a little time, that she was 
approaching the shore — f^tanding in — as it is termed, 



76 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

with all her sails set, and her colors %ing. Such a 
spectacle was strange and startling enough ; and as 
she neared the shore it was of course expected that 
she would inevitably get among the breakers and 
be dashed to pieces. The beach was soon alive with 
people, who were attracted by the strange sight. 
Still nearer came the ship ! but on her decks not ar 
soul was visible. Guided by some mysterious power 
she glided unharmed through the dangers seen and 
unseen — the crags above and the fearful ledges be- 
neath the wave — as silently as a phantom ship she 
approached the sands into which her sharp keel 
struck, and so gently that not the slightest injury was 
sustained. 

Wondering at the strange occurrence, the people 
for some time remained gazing on the stranded ves- 
sel — presently they ventured on board, and then the 
only living thing they found was a dog, which was 
quietly sitting on the deck, and a cat in the cabin. 
Some coffee was boiling at the galley fire, and evi- 
dent preparations had been made for the breakfast 
of the crew — but not even the ghost of a mariner 
was there. 

What rendered the matter all the more singular 
was the fact that there had been no storm off the 
coast, and that the vessel was in good sailing condi- 
tion. Many a conjecture was hazarded, but no cer- 
tain conclusions were arrived at. It was generally 
supposed, however, that finding themselves unex- 
pectedly near the breakers, through the carelessness 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 77 

of the helmsman, the crew abandoned the vessel in 
alarm (the long boat was missing,) and were after- 
wards lost, although their ship was almost miracu- 
lously saved. 

The name of the ship was the " Sea Bird," and 
surely a bolder flight was never before except by a 
sea-bird made. 

The vessel proved to be a brig belonging to New- 
port, which had been hourly expected from Hon- 
duras, she having been spoken about a day or two 
before, by a vessel that had arrived in port. 

The brig was commanded by Captain John Hux- 
ham. No tidings were ever heard of him and his 
crew, and what became of them will probably ever 
remain a mystery. The vessel was afterwards got 
off, and sold to a merchant of Newport, who changed 
her name to the " Beach Bird," in which name she 
made many voyages. 

Clams are found in plenty hereabouts, and the 
hunters of them may be frequently seen with their 
pronged instruments turning up the sea-weed. 
Various other fish also abound in the neighborhood 
of Easton's Beach. 

A description of the other beaches and their pecu- 
liarities must form the subject of another chapter. 



78 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Sachuest Beach — Purgatory — Paradise — The Hang- 
ing Rock — Dean Berkeley and the " Minute Phil- 
osophy" — Whitehall — Sketch of Newport by 
Berkeley — A-Lmy's and Smith's Beaches. 

Leaving Easton's Beach, we cross the outlet of 
Easton's Pond by means of stepping-stones, and then 
making our way over a high tongue of land which 
terminates in Easton's Point, we see Sachuest Beach 
spread out before us. 

It lies eastward of, and is much larger than the 
beach we have recently quitted. Besides its being 
more difficult of access, it is not so well suited for 
bathing as Easton's — but it is more picturesque, and 
there are associations connected with it which will 
perhaps render it a favorite resort for those who pre- 
fer solitary rambles to crowded haunts. 

We have already described Purgatory, which is 
situated on the western margin of Sachuest Bay. 
We will therefore suppose ourselves on the edge of 
that chasm looking sea-ward. 

From Purgatory to Paradise is a strange tran- 
sition ; but as we stand on the brink of the one, we 
here literally command a view of the other. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 79 

Sweeping back from the bay, and at no very great 
distance from it, is a green territory, to which it is 
pleasant to turn the eye which has been fathoming 
the gloom of the rock-rifted chasm. And really, the 
"living green" is all the more delightful — and the 
" sweet fields " beyond all the more gratifying, be- 
cause of the sudden transition from darkness to 
light. Paradise is a long and beautiful grove of 
sycamore trees, that skirts the foot of a rocky hill 
— which hill is adorned with a variety of groves, 
formed by mulberry and other trees. There are 
verdurous slopes too, and mossy winding ways, 
which contrast strikingly with the rich vegetation. 

From the hill's summit, there is a view almost as 
Paradisaical as that of the place itself; but the as- 
cent is somewhat tiresome — no one, however, regrets 
making it. 

Paradise is a favorite pic-nic place, and to those 
who love retirement no spot could be better suited. 
But w^e must return to the bay. 

One of the great features of Sachuest Bay is the 
Hanging Rock, an immense mass of stone that far 
overhangs its base. Doubtless the unceasing action 
of the sea has washed away part of the foundation 
of this enormous mass, which on scorching summer 
days affords literally to the weary " the shadow of 
a great rock." And a grateful shadow did it afford 
to one in old times, who made within its shade a 
study of the spot. And 'what a sanctum ! That it 



80 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

was a place fitted for contemplation, the work which 
was chiefly written there sufficiently attests. 

One hundred and twenty-four years ago, the wan- 
derer near the Hanging Rock, might have noted, sit- 
ting beneath the superincumbent mass, a man of 
grave yet pleasant aspect, reading or committing his 
thoughts to paper : this was the celebrated Dean 
Berkeley, who, it is said, here wrote the greater part 
of his " Minute Philosopher," a work, which it has 
been said, will stand an imperishable monument 
from age to age of the intelligence, refinement and 
piety of its author. Here would he repair from his 
dwelling in the immediate neighborhood, and amid 
nature's fairest scenery, lift his thoughts to Nature's 
God. 

We will take a pilgrimage to his house, for it is 
one of the spots consecrated by genius. Not far 
have we to go — for it is near a small watercourse 
which runs toward this very beach. It is just three 
miles from the State House in Newport, a little to 
the northward of what is called the Green End 
Road. 

Whitehall is the name of the house ; it is not so 
imposing looking a place as its London namesake, 
where Charles I. was beheaded, and after which it 
was probably named : on the contrary, it is a plain 
unpretending building. But for all that, it is classic ; 
every portion of it is interesting, because the good 
Bishop's name is identified with it, and there he lived 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. SI 

long and calmly. A slight notice of this good man 
cannot, we think, fail to be acceptable to our readers. 
Dr. George Berkeley was born at Kilkrin, in Ire- 
land, in 1684. He was educated at Trinity College, 
Dublin, where he distinguished himself by his liter- 
ary attainments. He became a fellow of Trinity 
College in 1707, and was created D. D. in 1717. 
By the recommendation of Swift, he accompanied, 
as chaplain and secretary, the celebrated Earl of 
Peterborough, who was appointed Ambassador to 
Sicily ; and afterwards, when disappointed in his ex- 
pectations of preferment, he spent four years on the 
Continent, as traveling tutor to the son of Dr. Ashe, 
Bishop of Clogher. Shortly after his return to Lon- 
don (in 1721), he was appointed chaplain to the 
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, the Duke of Grafton. 
By a legacy of Miss Vanhomrigh, the Vanessa of 
Swift, his fortune was considerably increased. In 
1724, on being promoted to the deanery of Derry, 
he resigned his fellowship. He now published his 
proposals for the conversion of the American savages 
to Christianity, by the establishment of a college in 
the Bermuda Islands. The plan was very favorably 
received, and he obtained a charter for a college, in 
which he was named the first president. He re- 
ceived also from Sir Robert Walpole a promise of a 
grant of £20,000 to carry it into effect. Having re- 
signed his living, worth eleven hundred pounds per 
annum, and all his hopes of preferment, he set sail 
for the field of his distant labors, with his family and 



82 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

several literary and scientific gentlemen. He landed 
at Newport, after a tedious passage of five months, 
January 23, 1729. 

A sort of pen-and-ink sketch of him is given in the 
Neio England Weekly Journal of January 24, 1729 : 

" Yesterday, arrived here, Dean Berkeley, of London- 
derry, in a pretty large ship. He is a gentleman of 
middle stature, of an agreeable, pleasant and erect as- 
pect. He was ushered into the town with a great num- 
ber of gentlemen. 'Tis said he purposes to tarry here 
with his family about three months." 



The following sketch of Newport, in " the olden 
time," occurs in a letter of the Dean's to a friend in 
Dublin, shortly after his arrival : — 

" The inhabitants are of a mixed kind, consisting of 
many sects and subdivisions of sects. Here are four sects 
of Anabaptists, besides Presbyterians, Quakers, Inde- 
pendents, and many of no profession at all. Notwith- 
standing so many differences, here are fewer quarrels 
about religion than elsewhere, the people living peace- 
ably with their neighbors, of whatever persuasion. They 
all agree in one point — that the Church of England is 
the second best. The climate is like that of Italy, and 
not at all colder in the winter than I have known it 
everywhere north of Rome. * * * The island is 
pleasantly laid out in hills and vales and rising grounds; 
hath plenty of excellent sprin2:s and fine rivulets, and 
many delightful prospects of fine promontories and ad- 
jacent lands. The provisions are very good, so are the 
fruits, which are quite neglected, though vines sprout of 
themselves to an extraordinary size, and seem as natural 
to this soil as to any I ever saw. The town of Newport 
contains about six thousand souls, and is the most thriv- 
ing place in all America for business. It is very pretty 
and pleasantly situated. I was never more agree- 
ably surprised than at the first sight of the town and 
harbor." 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 83 

Soon after the Dean's arrival, he erected White- 
hall, where he resided about two years and a half, 
and often preached at Trinity Church. Afterwards 
he visited Cambridge, Mass., and was a donator to 
Harvard University. To Yale College he presented 
eight hundred and eighty volumes, and on his de- 
parture he gave the Whitehall estate for three 
scholarships in Latin and Greek. After his return 
to England (in 1733), he sent a magnificent organ 
as a gift to Trinity Church, Newport, which is still 
in constant use, and bears an inscription which per- 
petuates the generosity of the donor. 

His college project having failed, he returned 
home, and in 1734 was raised to the see of Cloyne. 
He died in Oxford January 14, 1753, in the seventy- 
third year of his age. 

The other two Newport beaches are Almy's, 
which we have described in our account of Cookeries- 
hell's Ledge, and Smyth's, which does not require 
particular description. As we before intimated, for 
pic-nics they are admirably suited. 



84 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET, 



CHAPTER IX. 

A Reminiscence of the Revolution — Overing House — 
Daring Capture of General Prescott by Barton — 
Death of the Veteran — The Glen — Tea House. 

The spots where remarkable events transpired have 
at all times been objects of interest to the tourist. 
In the Old World, the battered castle, the ruined 
abbey, or the renowned battle-field, year after year, 
attract their hosts of curious visitors, and the birth- 
jDlaces of eminent men are thronged by crowds of 
enthusiasts. Genius, when it folds its wing, seems 
to sanctify the very grave ; and the places where the 
bones of a Shakspeare or of a Washington are de- 
posited become points of pilgrimage. Jn this land 
we have no venerable piles, beautiful even in decay, 
such as are to be found in Europe ; only, perchance, 
an Indian mound, or, far amid almost impenetrable 
forests, isolated stones, which, in their lonely gran- 
deur, intimate that they once formed portions of a 
vast city. 

But if America can furnish the searcher after the 
picturesque with no ivy-clad and time-worn struc- 
tures of the kind referred to, she has numberless 
places to which her sons can point with feelings of 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 85 

proud and peculiar interest. The house and the 
grave of Washington, for instance, will be always 
sacred places; and we might mention other such 
honored localities. For the present, we must con- 
fine ourselves to the neighborhood of Newport, and 
here we shall find a spot rendered memorable by- 
one of the boldest and bravest achievements which 
history has ever recorded. 

About five miles from Newport, on the western 
road, at a distance of a mile from the shore, is a 
dwelling which no American can regard without 
emotion. The road to it from the town is good, and 
the landscape is enlivened by mansions in situations 
of great beauty, and of considerable architectural 
taste. About four miles from Newport is a very 
picturesque little Episcopal Church. The house to 
which we would now particularly direct the attention 
of the reader is not far beyond. 

It is a substantial, old-fashioned building, situated 
on rising ground. In the front is an entrance, with 
three windows on the basement, and four on the floor 
above it ; a stream running before it makes a tiny 
waterfall over a low stone wall, which bounds the 
premises in that direction. Within these are pan- 
elled walls, and a broad old staircase, and heavy cor- 
nices, and arched mantel-pieces. It is, in fact, a mix- 
ture of the country-seat and the farm-house. 

In 1777 this dwelling was the residence of Mr. 
Overing, who has been described as a genuine Tory. 
Its last resident was Mr. John T. Tilley, whose name 
5 



86 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

is connected with the property on Walling's map. It 
was in this house that the celebrated capture of Gen- 
eral Prescott was effected by Major-General Barton. 

In November, 1776, Major-General Lee w^as sur- 
prised 'and taken by a detachment of British troops. 
With a view to procure the exchange of that valuable 
officer, William Barton, then a Major in the Rhode 
Island line, projected the bold and adventurous ex- 
pedition which is the subject of the following narra- 
tive. 

Some months elapsed after the capture of General 
Lee before an opportunity offered of effecting the 
object which Major Barton had in view. In the 
month following that of the capture of General Lee, 
the enemy took possession of the islands of Rhode 
Island, Canonicut, and Prudence. Major Barton was 
then stationed at Tiverton, and there he anxiously 
watched the motions of the enemy, with but feeble 
prospect of obtaining the opportunity he desired. At 
length, on the 20th of June, 1777, a man of the name 
of Coffin, who had made his escape from the British, 
was seized by some American troops and carried to 
Major Barton's quarters. From this man Barton ob- 
tained valuable information respecting Prescott's head- 
quarters, and he now became convinced of the prac- 
ticability of effecting his flivorite object. There were, 
however, great difficulties to be surmounted. Nei- 
ther his troops nor their commander had been long 
inured to service, and the intended service was of a 
nature as novel as it was hazardous. Besides, Major 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 87 

Barton was aware that the undertaking, should it 
prove unsuccessful, would be pronounced rash and 
unadvised, and its consequences, though his life should 
be preserved, would be followed by degradation and 
disgrace. 

Having communicated his plan to Colonel Stanton, 
and received his permission to " attack the enemy 
when and where he pleased," he prepared for action. 
His confidential comrades were selected from among 
the officers, and each of them having perfect confi- 
dence in Barton's prudence and bravery, agreed to 
share in the possible glory and the certain risk of the 
undertaking. Five whale-boats were not without 
difficulty procured and equipped for service. Barton 
had purposely postponed procuring the necessary 
number of men, until the last moment, from an ap- 
prehension that their earlier selection might excite 
suspicion and defeat the object of the enterprise. In 
a short but animated address. Barton informed the 
soldiers that he projected an expedition against the 
enemy, and that he desired the voluntary assistance 
of about forty of their number, and directed those 
" who would hazard their lives in the enterprise, to 
advance two paces in front." Without one exception, 
or a moment'' s hesitation, the ivliole regiment advanced. 
Having thus obtained officers and men, and every 
thing being ready, the party, on the 4th of July, 1777, 
embarked from Tiverton for Bristol. On the morn- 
ing of the 5th Major Barton, with his officers, went 
to Hog Island, which was within view of the British 



88 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

encampment and shipping. Here he disclosed to 
his officers the particular object of the enterprise, and 
allotted the part each was to perform. The most in- 
violable secrecy was enjoined, and the party returned 
to Bristol. 

At nine o'clock on the evening of the ninth, Barton 
addressed his party at Warwick Neck, and concluded 
by offering his fervent petition to the Great King of 
armies, that He would smile upon their intended en- 
terprise and crown it with success. The whole party 
now proceeded to the shore, and took possession of 
the boats in the manner directed. That which con- 
tained Major Barton was posted in front, with a pole 
about ten feet long in her stern, to the end of which 
was attached a handkerchief, in order that his boat 
might be distinguished from the others, that none 
might go before it. In this manner they proceeded 
between the islands of Prudence and Patience, in 
order that they might not be seen by the shipping of 
the enemy, that lay off Hope Island. AVhile passing 
the north end of Prudence Island, they heard from 
the sentinels on board the shipping of the enemy the 
cry of " all's well !" As they approached the shore 
of Rhode Island, a noise lilve the running of horses 
was heard, which alarmed them, but not a word was 
spoken. A moment's reflection satisfied Barton that 
his designs could not be known by the enemy, and 
he pushed boldly for the shore. Apprehensive that, 
if discovered, the enemy might attempt to cut off his 
retreat, Barton ordered one man to remain in each 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. S9 

boat and be prepared for departure at a moment's 
warning. The remainder of the party landed without 
delay. 

To the head-quarters of General Prescott, about a 
mile, as he said, from the shore, the party, in five di- 
visions, now proceeded in silence. There was a door 
on the south, the east, and the west sides of the 
house in which he resided. The first division was 
ordered to advance upon the south door, the second 
on the west, and the third on the east — the fourth to 
guard the road, and the fifth to act in emergencies. 
In their march they passed the guard-house of the 
enemy on their left, and, in their right, occupied by a 
company of cavalry, for the purpose of carrying, with 
expedition, the orders of the General to remote parts 
of the Island. On arriving at the head-quarters of 
the enemy, as the gate of the front yard was opened, 
they were challenged by the sentinel on guard. The 
party was at the distance of about twenty-five yards 
from the sentinel, but their number was partially 
concealed from him by a row of trees. No reply 
having been given, the sentinel again demanded, 
" Who comes there 1" " Friends 1" replied Barton. 
" Friends," said the sentinel, " advance and give the 
countersign !" Barton, affecting to be angry, said to 

the sentinel — " D you, we have no countersign ; 

have you seen any deserters to-night V — and before 
the sentinel could determine the character of those 
who approached him. Barton had seized his musket, 
told him he was a prisoner, and threatened him in 



90 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

case of noise with instant death. In reply to ques- 
tions put to him he said that the General was in the 
house. By this time each division had got its station, 
and the door was burst in — and they ascended first 
to a chamber above, where it chanced the worthy host 
himself lodged. He said the General was not there, 
appeared much frightened, and pointed with his finger 
to the apartment below. However, they did not be- 
lieve him, but securing him proceeded to the next 
chamber where Mr. Overing's son lay, and, not find- 
ing him, descended to the room below, which was 
fastened ; but one of the party named Guy, a colored 
man, whose head was as hard as a cannon ball, made 
one plunge and burst through, head-first. Previous 
to this, on the head of the stairs, Colonel Barton 
called to his men, and told them to set the house on 
fire at the four corners, as he was determined to 
have General Prescott, dead or alive ! and Prescott, 
aroused probably for the first time, called out — 
" What is the matter ?" Guided by the sound, they 
immediately descended to the room, and the Colonel, 
as he entered, saw a man sitting on the side of the 
bed ; clapping him on the shoulder, the Colonel asked 
him " if he was General Prescott f He answered, 
" Yes, sir." The Colonel then told him he was his 
prisoner. He replied, " I acknowledge it, sir." The 
Colonel then telling him he must go with them, he 
begged the privilege of putting on his clothes ; the 
Colonel told him,Very few, for their business required 
haste — and, in fact, such was the haste, that they were 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 9 I 

under the necessity of hurrying the General away 
without his clothes ; a circumstance which afterwards 
gave rise to much merriment. In the beginning of 
the assault upon the house, Major Harrington leaped 
out of his chamber window, and was immediately 
secured by the guard-soldiers of the Colonel below ; 
him they took, with the simple sentinel, in the midst 
of the party, and mai'ched towards the shore. The 
sentinel, be it remembered, was the only one of the 
party that had shoes on — and, to expedite the travel- 
ling, General Prescott and his aid were compelled to 
hug their foes, and cling, with each arm, around a neck, 
while they were borne, or rather dragged, through 
the stubble. There being no particular obligation 
on the party to return by the way they came, they 
took the liberty to go back by the nearest path, and 
crossed a field of rye, in which were blackberry 
bushes. In crossing, the poor General got a severe 
scratching — and, as his tormentors would not slacken 
their speed, he was obliged to pursue his journey in 
a most uncomfortable manner. The leisurely and 
cautious pace in which they crept on towards the 
house, was discarded now, and, dashing on by the 
nearest route, they soon left house and pursuers all 
far behind, and gained the boats in safety. Then 
seating the prisoners in number one, the Colonel put 
his own cloak over the shivering General and pushed 
off. Somebody, however, had given the alarm, for 
they had no sooner put from the shore than the sig- 
nal of alarm was given — the tiring of three cannon 



S2 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

and three rockets. Nevertheless, the little party- 
pursued its way in safety. General Prescott just 
asked if Colonel Barton commanded? Upon getting 
into the boats he was answered in the affirmative. 

" You have made a bold push to-night," said 

he. He appeared much confused when taken, and 
when he found himself so near the British shipping, 
agitated and perplexed, he wisely forbore any vain 
attempts at escape or alarm ; instead of which, how- 
ever, he said he hoped they ivould not hurt him! 
" Oh! no," said Mr. Barton, "you shall not be hurt 
while you are under my care !" 

The adventurous little boats continued their way 
through the waves with great rapidity. The deep- 
mouthed cannon was echoing far and near; the bea- 
con of alarm was blazing from a hundred different 
stations, and streaming rockets were illuminating the 
darkness of the night. The weary tread of the mid- 
night watch on board the enemy's ships was ex- 
changed for bustling confusion ; while the boatswain's 
shrill whistle, the speaking-trumpet, and the roll of 
the drum were summoning all hands on deck, be- 
neath the very stern of one vessel and the bow- 
sprit of another, the hardy band of patriots pushed 
their way, favored by that intense darkness which 
in this latitude invariably precedes the dawn ; and 
just as morning appeared the boats found themselves 
under the guns of the fort, safe from their enemies. 

Although Prescott had been extremely cruel during 
his stay on the Island, Barton was too noble-minded 
to retaliate now. He escorted his prisoner to com- 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 93 

fortable quarters. On the third day after his capture, 
he was conveyed to Connecticut, and eventually the 
General was exchanged for Lee. 

After much suffering in consequence of a gunshot 
wound, and some painful vicissitudes. Colonel Bar- 
ton died in Providence of apoplexy, on the 22d of 
October 1831, at the ripe year of 85. 

Not long before Barton's death, he attended 
an annual meeting, on the 4th of July, of the Cin- 
cinnati at Newport, and then with remarkable spirit, 
gave an account of his exploit. Our informant is a 
gentleman who was present on the occasion. 

THE GLEN. 

"While in the neighborhood of Overing House, the 
visitor would do well to pay a visit to a charming 
spot not far distant; it is called The Glen. 

A cross road leads from the west road, a little 
north of the house we have been describing, to the 
east road, and half a mile from this the Glen is 
situated. In summer the walk is an exceedingly 
pleasant one. 

The Glen is formed by two wooded hills which 
gradually slope to a valley, through which flows a 
bright and sparkling stream which dances to its own 
sweet music. The water is o'er-canopied with trees, 
through which the sunshine streams, paving as with 
mosaic gold the grass on the rivulet's margin ; and 
through the foliage, the soft air creeps shedding a 
delicious coolness over the retired spot. Near the 
5* 



94: nAIO)-B00K OF NEWPORT. 

entrance there is a small pond which has been dam- 
med to supply a grist mill. Beyond this is a grove 
through which the stream may be followed to the 
shore on the east side of the Island. Here beauti- 
ful views of the East River and of the opposite 
shore may be enjoyed. 

Are you fatigued, reader, with your ramble 1 if 
so, near the Glen, and between it and the main road, 
are the snug quarters of a lady who cheerfully dis- 
penses the cup which cheers but not inebriates? 
to all those who require soothing souchong, or glo- 
rious green, or magnificent mixed tea. Capital coffee 
too, may here be found, and choicest cakes, (we are 
growing alliterative.) What can be pleasanter after 
a ramble through that charming glen, than a quiet 
gossip over the incomparable infusion of the Ciiinese 
leaf 1 The very idea of it inspires us, and so we close 
the chapter by saying or singing : — a la Mary Wort- 
ley Montague : 

And then, when our lovely Glen ramble is past, 
And Ave rest our tired limbs on a sofa at last, 
How delightful to mark on the table outspread 
The primrose-hued butter, the delicate bread ! 
The cakes and the cream, the preserves and the ham, 
The eggs, the hung beef, the sliced peaches and jam, 
The coffee so fragrant, the fine flavored tea, 
And tiie other good things of good Mrs. Durfee ! 

Reader, Mrs. Durfee is no fiction of our imagi- 
nation ; she keeps the Tea-House of The Glen ! 

Another charming spot is Lawton's Valley, about 
a mile beyond Overing House, which the visitor 
would do well to explore. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 95 



CHAPTER X. 



Revolutionary Reminiscences — Curious Extracts 

FOUND IN AN OLD DiARY IN NeWPORT. 

Whilst engaged in writing this little work, a rather 
curious document has been placed in our hands. It 
is an old diary, kept by one Fleet S. Greene, a resi- 
dent of Newport during the Revolutionary War. The 
manuscript is in a very mutilated condition and dif- 
ficult to make out, both from age and orthography. 
In the extracts we may make from it we shall some- 
times take the liberty of correcting the latter. In a 
sort of preface — a letter addressed to Captain John 
Cahoone, of the United States Revenue Service — Mr. 
Greene tells the story of his diary. It has no date, 
and runs as follows : 

To Captain John Cahoone. 

" Sir — According to your desire, I have recovered from 
oblivion the few remarks I made on the British Garrison 
in Town, in a very ragged condition. It is nearly forty- 
five years since they were wrote and not fit to appear in 
public. 

" But as you were in the Garrison at the same time, and 
was a spectator in every thing that passed, you will make 
excuses for these papers and the time they [were] wri- 
ting. At a time that a single line, if discovered, would 
have [sent] the writer to a close jail. The British Army 



96 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

and Navy arrived here on the 7th December, 1776, and 
landed on the 8th under General Clinton — about 9,000 
men without opposition. The town remained peaceable 
for a few days. But there was a great number of people 
in town — chiefly inhabitants who called themselves 
Friends to Government — meaning the English Govern- 
ment — who were continually complaining to the officers, 
to gain their favor, of every person in town that was 
friends to country, calling them Eebels ; and by their re- 
ports the Jails and Prison-Ships were continually crowded 
with the principal Inhabitants. There was a Company 
formed by the principal Inhabitants who carried arms, 
and called themselves Associators, that undertook the 
defence of the Town and form a night watch, of twenty 
men each night, consisting of the Inhabitants in general. 
They were in four posts, five men each, which they called 
a Patrol. These men were under the orders [of] these 
Associators, and were called by turns to do duty — and 
as you were a spectator of all their transactions, you 
[have] the best information. 

Fleet S. Greene." 

The first six or eight pages of the Diary are de- 
stroyed. From what remains we shall make a few 
extracts, which may convey some idea of the state of 
things in Newport dui-ing the struggle for Liberty. 

" June 5, 1777. — A woman, Mrs. Squire, was commit- 
ted to the Provost [the military gaol ; it was situated at 
the corner of Spring and Pelham streets, opposite Mr. 
Thayer's church, J for wishing the Provincials to come to 
the Island." 

Here is a reference to Barton's capture of Pres- 
cott : — 

"J/ZTzell, Thursday. — Last night came on the west 
side of the Island supposed to be about forty men, of the 
Provintials against Mr. John Overain's house, without 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 97 

the least opposition — carried Major-General Prescott, his 
Aide de Camp, Mr. Warrington, and what others is not 
known. Immediately, on intelligence that the General 
was carried off, the Drums beat to arms — the Dragoons 
scoured the shore, but the bird was flown. The town 
appears in the utmost confusion at the loss of the General. 
Confusion appears in every face ; even the greatest friends 
of liberty are obligated to show some marks of sorrow for 
the loss of such an accomplished General." 

"J;me 15. — The whole command of the town is in- 
vested in INIajor Barry, formerly town ]Major. He abuses 
the inhabitants, friends to liberty, in a most shocking 
manner, not suffering them to talk in the streets." 

Things seemed to be becoming serious, for on 

'■'■July 31. — This morning at 10 o'clock a vessel sailed 
for Providence, having on board 130 women and children 
belonging to this town. Their trunks were all searched, 
and some things, such as tea, pins, linen, and men's 
clothes, seized by the Provost Marshall and Hessian 
Town Sergeant." 

'■'■August 17. — Last night a man came from the Main 
(land) to this Island. He reports that Admiral Howe 
has arrived at Boston and burnt the Town ] he was im- 
mediately committed to the Provost." 

" Sept. 20. — A guard of a Sergeant and six men are 
ordered to attend the Market, from nine to ten o'clock in 
the morning, to regulate the selling of fresh Meat." 

'■'■Sept. 22. — This morning a number of carpenters were 
discharged from the King's Works, for refusing to work on 
Sunday." 

'■'Oct. 27. — Great numbers of the inhabitants, who are 
now imprisoned, have left their families in great distress. 
Upon application to the Governor for relief they are 
treated with contempt and turned out." 

'■'Nov. 9. — The Presbyterian meeting-houses are taken 
up for Barracks — all the pews pulled down." 

" 10. — The keys of the Baptist meeting-house are 

taken by the Barrack Master, in order to quarter sol- 
diers." 



98 HAND-BOOK OF NEWrORT. 

To add to the troubles of the people of Newport, 
on — 

"TVoD. 12. — The Small Pox breaks out in town among 
the inhabitants." 

" The prisoners at the Pest House die very fast from 
the want of the common necessaries of life." 

It seems even the dead were not allowed to rest in 
those stirring times : — 

^'Nov. 21. — Last night the body of Mr. Magee was 
taken up, and robbed of the linen, after being buried 
upwards of G weeks." 

There was " sharp practice " in the British fleet — 
as witness: — 

^'■Dec. 11. — This day at 12 o'clock a man was executed 
on board the Lark frigate, who had deserted. He was 
taken on board a privateer." 

" A soldier belonging to the New Regiment cut off his 
fore finger, in consequence of which he received 7000 
lashes !" [ 700 most likely.] 

" Jan. 7, 1778. — A soldier's wife was drummed through 
the town for breaking a house to burn." 

" March 24. — The Hessian troops appear in uniform for 
the first time." 

^'■June 18. — Last night the shop of Messrs. John and 
William Langley was broke open and robbed." 

'■'•July 10. — A cole mine is opened in the Neck." 

" " 29. — This morning the signal at the Ward House 
were, A fleet appears in sight ! " 

" Eleven o'clock. — The town is alarmed ; it proves to be 
the French Fleet." 

"Fire d clock- — The Associators all in arms on the Pa- 
rade. The town-crier warns the inhabitants to join them. 
The frigates hauled in under the North Battery; the 
town appears in the greatest confusion." 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 99 

'•'■ Juhj 31 . — Reported that the inhabitants were plunder- 
ed without distinction in Canonicut." 

'• August 2. — The garrison on the Island at present is 
said to consist of 7,200 soldiers and 1,500 sailors, exclud- 
ing marines/' 

"6.— The army continues to lay waste the Island — 
cutting down orchards, laying open fields, and numbers 
of the inhabitants are ordered to move from their houses 
that they may be pulled down."' 

"20. — Early this morning a report arrived that the 
Provintials were leaving the Island. Immediately the 
English regiments, with the Auspach Chasseurs and a 
regiment of Germans, rallied from the lines and attacked 
a party of Provintials on the road, but were beat off with 
loss. The Provintials halted at Windmill Hill, and was 
followed by the King's Troops, when a smart battle en- 
sued." 

"30. — The Provintials remain at Windmill Hill; the 
King's army at Quaker Hill." 

'■'■Dec. 25. — No firewood is allowed to be brought from 
the country for the inhabitants ; notwithstanding num- 
bers of families are ready to perish for the want of that 
article." 

"Jaw. 1, 1779. — All the windmills are taken up to grind 
rice for the soldiers, being entirely out of fiour." 

The greater portion of Greene's Diary consists of 
such matter as the arrivals and departures of fleets — ■ 
reports of victories and defeats — accounts of com- 
mittals to the " Provost," and the like. It breaks 
off abruptly on the 12th October, 1779, when the fol- 
lovying entry occurs : — 

" Arrived the Refugee fleet from the eastward; 

the army and merchants are carrying their baggage as 
fast as possible. The whole appears in one general con- 
fusion." 

On the last fly-leaf of the copy-book, in which these 



100 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

memoranda are made, is the following — evidently 
written at a much more recent date : — 

" The Evacuation of the Town took place on the 

25th October, 1779, when they marched [through] the 
Town in solid columns into the Neck, and embarked on 
board their shij^s, and sailed for New York at eight in the 



To the future historian of Newport, this document 
may be extremely useful. We have only picked up 
a grain here and there, leaving, to a more minute 
chronicler, the task of thoroughly sifting it. It is 
about to be placed in the Cabinet of the Rhode Island 
Historical Society, by Mr. Wm. H. Taylor, of New 
Bedford — the gentleman who received it from the 
hands of Captain Cahoone. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 101 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Churches of Newport — First Baptist — North 
Baptist — Jews' Synagogue — Trinity Church — 
Friends — Friends (new) First Congregational — 
Moravian — Central Baptist — Roman Catholic — 
Freem^ill Baptists — Colored. 

In the year 1647 it was ordered and decreed by 
the General Court of Ehode Island, hi the matter of 
religious opinion, " That all men may w^alk as their 
own consciences persuade them, every one in the 
name of his God. And let the sheep and lambs of 
the Most High walk together in this colony with- 
out molestation in the name of Jehovah, their God, 
for ever and ever." " And," says Mr. Ross in his 
Historical discourse, " to the honor of Rhode Island, 
and the glory of the Christian name, let it be told to 
our children from generation to generation, that 
when, in 1656, the colonies of Plymouth, Massachu- 
setts, Hartford and New Haven, attempted to urge 
their sanguinary edicts against the Quakers on the 
colony of Rhode Island, calling on the legislature 
for an act of proscription, and enforcing that call by 
threatening to cut oft' all commei'cial intercourse with 
them in case they refused to comply ; they nobly 



102 HAND-BOOK OF KEWPOET. 

and promptly answered : " We shall strictly adhere to 
the foundation principles on which this colony was 
first settled, to wit : that every man who submits 
peaceably to civil government in this colony, shall 
w^orship God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience, without molestation." 

The same toleration has been transmitted from 
sire to son, even until now. Perhaps it would be diffi- 
cult to find a place where all the various shades of 
religious opinion are more nicely distinguished than 
in Newport. Indeed, the man must be fiistidious 
who could not attain the spiritual aliment which 
he might desire in this fine old town. Episcopalians, 
Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, Congregationalists, 
Jews, Roman Catholics, Quakers, and Moravians, all 
have their places for public devotion. It is a matter 
of pleasure too, that we can speak of the good un- 
derstanding which prevails among the various deno- 
minations of Christians. The spirit of Roger Wil- 
liams and John Clark still seems to animate the 
community, and excepting those who claim a perpen- 
dicular descent, we imagine that very few indeed, 
would think of damning a fellow Christian without a 
remarkably clear case. Exclusive pretensions do 
not find much favor here ; and when men are foolish 
enough to maintain them, they find few of the natives 
of Rhode Island who can be induced to listen to 
them. Think, and let think, is remarkably the spirit 
of the population. 

In the foUowinsf brief notices of the various 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWrOET. 103 

Churches, we heave taken them in the order in 
vhich they were built : — 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

This Church is the oldest in Newport, it having 
)een founded in the year 1638 by Dr. John Clark, 
rhe first house erected to the worship of God in 
his town, was built by this Church, and stood at 
I place now known by the name of " Green End." 
3r. Clark was a learned man, and wrote a Con- 
cordance and a Lexicon. He died on the 20th 
\.pril, 1676, aged 66 years. Mr. Calender, one of 
he pastors, was the author of the celebrated Histo- 
•ical Sermon preached in March, 1738 ; and another, 
Dr. Foster, was the best Hebraist of New England. 
Che Meeting-house, situated in Spring street, is a 
ipacious but plain building, capable of holding pro- 
)ably one thousand persons. A large portion of the 
congregation reside upon the island, and come three 
)r four miles to attend worship. 

The present pastor is the Rev. Samuel Adlam. 
3e has occupied the pulpit three years, and is chiefly 
listinguished for being the only Baptist minister in 
^hode Island who advocates the new Baptist version. 
3f course he has few around him to sympathize in 
lis views. 

NORTH BAPTIST CHURCH. 

This Church was established in 1656. The first 
mstor was the Rev. William Vaughan. 



104 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

The present edifice was built by the liberality of 
the late Judge Taber, who bequeathed his property 
to this Church and Society in 1827. It is situated 
in North Baptist street. The style is Gothic, and 
its beautiful tower is quite an ornament to the town, 
from whatever point it is viewed. The interior is 
spacious, commodious, and elegant, and is capable 
of containing twelve hundred persons. There is an 
excellent and powerful organ, and the bell in the 
tower is the best in Newport. Divine service is 
observed three times every Lord's day, viz., at half- 
past 10 A.M., and at 3 and 7 p.m. 

The pastor is the Rev. Dr. Choules, who was or- 
dained over this Society September 27, 1827. 

jews' synagogue. 

The present Synagogue in Touro street was erect- 
ed in the year 1762. Before the war commenced it 
was thronged with worshippers, upwards of three 
hundred Jews attending it. It is now, however, 
never used except occasionally for the funeral service 
of some of their descendants, who may have desired 
to be buried there. There is a Jews' cemetery also 
in Touro street, which was founded by Abraham 
Touro, whose remains were, in 1822, interred there- 
in. The entrance to it exactly resembles that of the 
Granary cemetery, Boston, but it is on a smaller 
scale. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 105 

TRINITY CHURCH (ePISCOPAl). 

This Church was formed near the close of the 
I7th century. In 1702 a handsome Church had 
3een built ; but in 1724 the Episcopal congregation 
lad grown too numerous for its accommodation, 
md a new building was erected, which has since 
3een lengthened. This is the present Trinity 
I!hurch. It is a fine old edifice, with a church-yard 
)n its side fronting Church street. In the latter are 
5ome quaint old monuments well worthy of observ- 
ition. The organ within was presented by Bishop 
Berkeley, and remains a musical memorial of that 
^ood man, who often preached here. It is still 
ornamented with the British crown, as is also the 
jteeple — perhaps the two only remaining emblems 
)f kingly rule to be now found in the United States, 
rhe congregation is not usually large, excepting in 
summer. Trinity is regarded as what is called 
'High Church." The Rev. Mr. Brewer is the 
-ector. There is a small and neat Episcopal Chapel 
jorivate ownership) in Church street, which is open 
3very day for morning and evening prayers. 



The first Friends' Meeting-house in Newport was 
erected in 1700, and the yearly meeting was then 
established, where it has ever since been held. The 
present edifice in Farewell street is an immense 
building, and looks vastly like the ship-houses at 



106 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

the Navy Yards at Brooklyn and Charleston. Ordi- 
narily the congregation is very small, but every 
June, at the time of the annual meeting, the house 
is indeed a Golgotha, it being so thronged that little 
else than heads can be seen. At such times, proba- 
bly 1700 persons assemble beneath its roof. 

THE NEW friends' MEETING-HOUSE, 

Is a small building in Mann avenue. It was built 
by the Hicksite party, who left the more orthodox 
of their body behind them. 

UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

This Church was constituted in 1720. It stands at 
the corner of Spring and Pelham streets, fronting 
the former. It is a neat, plain building, with gal- 
leries, and will accommodate about 700 persons. 
It was built about fifteen years ago. The pastor is 
the Eev. Thatcher Thayer. Just in front of the 
Church are the tombs of two eminent divines, former 
pastors of the Congregational churches of this town. 
Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Patten. For many years 
there were separate Churches, since the union of 
which the Society is large and prosperous. 

MORAVIAN CHAPEL. 

In 1758 the United Brethren constituted a Church 
in Newport. The Chapel is situated in Church 
street, but it has been closed for many years. The 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 1 07 

few persons of this communion in the town worship 
in other churches. 

CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH. 

This Church is in Chirk street. It was formed by 
a secession from the North Baptist Church in 1847, 
and occupies a small, but neat house, holding about 
450 or 500 persons. The pastor is the Rev. Henry 
Jackson. This Church, with the First and the North 
Baptist, belongs to the Warren Association. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Tliis Church was erected in 1806. It is situated 
in Marlborough street, and is a large, plain building, 
wdiich will seat about 750 persons. By a regulation 
of Conference, the minister changes every two years. 
We cannot help thinking it somewhat strange that 
in our democratic country, the laity of this respect- 
able body allow themselves to be excluded from the 
Conference, which is composed exclusively of min- 
isters. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CIIAPEL. 

The Roman Catholics organized a congregation in 
Newport in 1828. Their first place of worship was 
the school house in Barney street. A church was 
afterwards built at the head of the same street — a 
large and fine stone building, in the Gothic style. A 
most substantial building has just been erected in 



108 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

Spring street. The congregation consists chiefly of 
Irish emigrants. The Kev. Joseph Fytton is the 
priest in charge. 

ZION CHURCH [^z'sCOpa?.] 

This is a neat building, with a Grecian portico. It 
is well situated on the Mall. It is esteemed to be 
the place of meeting of the Low Church party. The 
rector is the Rev. M. Watson. 

UNITARIAN CHURCH 

Is situated in Mill street. It formerly belonged to 
an orthodox church, but was sold, when the former 
society built a new house to the Unitarians. It was 
dedicated on the 27th of July, 1836. It will hold 
about 400 persons, and is neatly fitted up. The 
congregation is not large, excepting in summer, when 
it has quite an accession from Bostonians. The Rev. 
Charles T. Brooks, a very amiable man and a good 
scholar, is the pastor. 

FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH 

Stands at the south end of Main street, and has ac- 
commodation for about 300 persons. The pastors 
have frequently been changed. 

COLORED CHURCH. 

This church is in Division street, and is a commo- 
dious place of worship. 



^ 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 109 



CHAPTER XII. 

Lily Pond — The Spouting Rock— Song of the Wild 
Flowers — A "Gem" from Shelley. 

We have wandered with the reader to several of 
the scenes of attraction which are to be found on the 
coasts around Newport. Conrad's Cave has been 
visited ; Purgatory has been gazed into ; a glimpse 
has been caught of Paradise ; and from Coggeshalls' 
Ledge we have stared, like Cortez and his men, upon 
the wide and heaving ocean. When in the neighbor- 
hood of the latter locality, we omitted to notice two 
places which are well worthy the attention of the 
visitor. 

Neither of them will require lengthened descrip- 
tions, for they are places which require eye-know- 
ledge, and almost defy pen-and-ink descriptions. 
Nevertheless, we will do our best to make the reader 
acquainted with them, though in the end we should 
only serve as a guide-post. 

And first for 

THE lily pond. 

To reach this charming spot, the stranger should 
start from the southern end of Thames street, and 
6 



110 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

proceed along a slightly tortuous road for about one 
mile ; this will lead him to the beautiful sheet of 
water which has received so mellifluous an appella- 
tion. 

The southern portion of Lily Pond is separated 
from the ocean by a belt of land, looking from 
which, in windy weather, a striking contrast between 
the rolling billows of the latter with the scarcely 
rippled surface of the former, is afforded. 

It is, indeed, a retired and lovely spot. On a 
small rocky promontory, beside the calm waters, 
there is a profusion of wild roses, and other fragrant 
children of the sun and the breeze. From these the 
most delicious odors exhale. A young friend of 
ours, who is poetically inclined, whilst lying on a 
bank of this natural garden, gave tongue to his in- 
spiration ; and here is his bouquet of 

WILD FLOWERS. 

We dwell not in grove or garden ; 

We boast not the bright parterre ; 
But seek us far up on the mountains free; 
'Neath the hedge-row green ; — in the shady lea, 

For our homes are there ! 

And we envy not those of the garden — 

Happy and safe we lie : 
We are far from the dwellings of toil and strife ; 
And on that sweet spot where we sprang to life, 

We bloom and die ! 

But the chief charm of the lake consists in its 
harvest of those flowers after which it is named. In 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. Ill 

June and July, the surface of the little lake is almost 
covered with blue and white water lilies, which fill 
the atmosphere with fragrance ; while in the per- 
fumed air birds sing joyously, and waterfowl glide 
noiselessly among the broad leaves, or, if disturbed, 
sail away on whirring wings to the beach beyond. 

Lily Pond is just such a place as Shelley de- 
scribed in his " Sensitive Plant :" — 

" And on the stream whose inconstant bosom 
Was prankt under boughs of embowering blossom, 
With golden and green light slanting through 
Their heaven of many a tangled hue, 

Broad water lilies lay tremulously, 

And starry river-buds glimmered by, 

And around them the soft stream did glide and dance 

With a motion of sweet sound and radiance. 

And the sinuous paths of green and moss, 
Which led through the garden along and across, 
Some opened at once to the sun and the breeze — 
Some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, 

Were all paved with daisies and delicate bells 

As fair as the fabulous Asphodels, 

And flowers which drooping as day droop'd too. 

Fell into pavilions, white, purple and blue, 

To roof the glow-worm from the evening dew." 

Lily Pond is just the place for a pic-nic party. 
Get up one, reader, and invite us thereto ; then 
" under the greenwood tree," Gipsy-like, — 

" we'll have tea and toast; 

Custards for supper, and an endless host 
Of syllabubs, and jellies and mince-pics. 
And other such lady-like luxuries, — 
Feasting on such, we will philosophize." 



112 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

THE SPOUTING ROCK. 

Proceeding in a south-easterly direction from Lily- 
Pond, the stroller after curiosities will find one on 
the shore at the foot of Almy's Pond. It is a natural 
curiosity. The under surface of some rocks are ex- 
cavated, and form deep and tortuous caverns, one of 
which has an upward shaft which terminates on the 
surface of the rock. When the wind has been for a 
little time brisk, and in a south-westerly direction, the 
sea rushes with great force into these hollows of the 
rock, and forces itself through the shaft or spout to 
a considerable height. It has been said to have 
reached an altitude of thirty feet. The view from 
the rock is extensive and fine. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 113 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Public Buildings and Institutions — The State House 
— Stuart's Picture — Town Hall— Redwood Li- 
brary — Mechanics' Library Association — Masonic 
Hall — Free Schools — Newport Asylum. 

The stranger who leaves the steamboat at Long 
Wharf, and walks along that marine thoroughfare 
toward the town, will observe directly before him, 
at some distance, a large and official-looking building, 
which is evidently connected with the public business 
of the town : this is the State House. 

This edifice is situated at the end of the Mall, on 
the upper part of Washington Square. It stands on 
a slight eminence, and, though possessing no claim 
to architectural correctness, it is still rather an im- 
posing-looking structure. The front is of brick, and a 
flight of steps leads to the entrance. A clock and a 
cupola, with a bell, serve to mark and announce 
time's flight. It was built about 1741. 

On entering the front door, the visitor finds him- 
self in a large hall, which is used as a place of meet- 
ing for the citizens of the town, and there the public 
business of the place is transacted. A broad flight 
of stairs leads to the second story, which is divided 



114 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 

into two rooms. The north one is spacious and 
commodious : it is used as the Representative Hall ; 
and in it also the United States Court hold their ses- , 
sions. The south room, which is much smaller, but 
handsome, is occupied as a Senate Chamber. 

In this apartment are two fine paintings. One is 
a full-length portrait of the great Washington, from 
the pencil of the celebrated Gilbert Stuart. It is a 
masterly production, and, whether we consider the 
likeness or the handling, deserves all praise. New- 
port may well be proud of possessing such a work 
of art, and the more so because the distinguished 
painter was a native of the town. 

The other picture is also a portrait of the father of 
his country. 

An interesting spectacle was presented in front of 
the State House, on July 4, 1826, when Major John 
Handy read the Declaration of Independence from 
the steps ; that being the place where, fifty years 
before, it was read to the people by the same gentle- 
man. The steps were decorated by an arch of 
flowers. Major Handy addressed the assembled 
multitude as follows : " My respected fellow-citizens, 
at your united request, I appear before you in this 
public station, at an age when it would seem ad- 
visable that I should remain a silent spectator of the 
performances of the day — a day which, half a cen- 
tury past, secured to us our independence and pros- 
perity; and no nation has been more prosperous. 
My own feelings on this occasion I have sacrificed to 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 115 

gratify your wishes. The recollection of past scenes 
of the last fifty years rushes in succession on my 
mind, with a hope and belief that the mantle of 
charity will be thrown over my imperfections ; and 
under that impression, I shall proceed to the perform- 
ance of the jiart required of me." 

After the Declaration was read, a hymn was sung 
to the tune of " Old Hundred," the whole multitude 
uniting their voices with a fervency and zeal which 
gave it a most sublime and happy effect. 

Almost in front of the State House is a wall, orna- 
mented with trees. At its foot is an excellent foun- 
tain of pure water. 

Such open spaces as this are very advantageous in 
all towns of any importance. We fervently hope 
that, as Newport increases, the authorities will not 
permit the ground to be built over without regard to 
sanitary rules. Squares and parks are the lungs of 
towns and cities. By the way, what an admirable 
situation is the field in which stands the old Stone 
Tower for a square. The space around it might be 
laid out with taste ; and a sweeter spot for a town 
saunter could hardly be imagined. The gray old 
ruin would finely contrast with the flowers around it. 
Let this field be bought in, and made free to the 
citizens of Newport for ever. We merely throw out 
the hint. 

THE TOWN HALL 

Stands at the corner of Long Wharf and Thames 
street. It is an old building, and requires no parti 



116 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

cular notice. In the room above, judicial business is 
transacted, and below is a market place. 




THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 



The Redwood Library is in Toiiro street. It owes 
its origin to a literary and philosophical society which 
was established in Newport in 1730. Bishop Berkeley 
encouraged the formation of this institution. Origi- 
nally, it was a debating society : but discussions 
were gradually laid aside, and the energies of the 
society were solely directed to the collection of 
valuable books. 

In the accomplishment of this new object, a great 
impulse was given by Abraham Redwood, Esq., who, 
in 1747, placed at the disposal of the society £500 
sterling, for the purchase of standard books in 
London. To give perseverance and usefulness to 
his donation, Mr. Redwood enjoined on the society 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 117 

the duty of erecting an edifice for the reception of 
such books as should be purchased. Five thousand 
pounds were immediately subscribed by the inhabit- 
ants of the town. Henry Collins, Esq. presented in 
June, 1748, to the company, the lot of land on which 
the library-edifice now stands. The library-building 
is a beautiful specimen of the Doric order — it was 
completed in 1750. The principal front is ornament- 
ed with a portico of four Doric columns, seventeen 
feet in height, and projecting nine feet from the 
walls of the building. The wings furnish two rooms 
of about twelve feet square. The principal library- 
room, occupying the whole of the main building, is 
thirty-seven feet long, twenty-six feet broad, and 
nineteen feet in height. The edifice is lighted by 
seven whole windows, and three attic windows in the 
east and west ends. The three whole windows in 
the east end are beautifully enriched with tasteful 
architectural ornament. 

This library is remarkably rich in classical and 
theological works. It was this circumstance which 
induced the Rev. Ezra Stiles to settle in Newport. 
He was an honorary member of the institution, and 
through his exertions, many valuable works from 
European authors were procured. He acted for 
nearly twenty years as librarian of the company. 

During the Revolution the library is said to have 

been deficed, and many of the books carried off. 

Gen. Fresco tt, to his honor be it said, on hearing of 

the exposed state of the library, stationed a military 

6* 



118 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

guard to protect it from further injury and depreda- 
tion. 

Mr. Redwood died in March, 1788. He was a 
native of Antigua, where he possessed large and 
valuable estates. 

After his death the public interest in the prosperi- 
ty of the institution seems to have declined. In 
fact, its very existence at one time depended on the 
resolution and efforts of a few individuals. The late 
Dr. Channing, in a discourse delivered at Newport, 
in 1836, alludes to the neglected condition of the 
library at this period, during which he pursued his 
studies in this town. He says : — " I had no profes- 
sor or teacher to guide me, but I had two noble 
places of study, one was yonder beautiful edifice, 
now so frequented, and so useful as a public library ; 
then so deserted, that I spent day after day, and 
sometimes week after week, amidst its dusty vol- 
umes, without interruption from a single visitor." 

The Hon. W. C. Gibbs has liberally permitted a 
free access to a valuable collection of books at pre- 
sent deposited by him in the library. 

The library-room is adorned by several paintings 
and busts. The beautiful bust of John Marshall, 
was presented in 1839, by Augustus E. Silliman, 
Esq., of New York. There are also portraits of 
Columbus, and of Abraham Redwood, the founder 
of the library, by Charles B. King, Esq., of Wash- 
iiigton. 

Around the room are portraits also of Wm. Wirt, 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 119 

J. C. Calhoun, Major-Gen. Brown, Daniel Webster, 
Gen. Lee, Com. J. Rogers, Wm. Redwood, Geo. W. 
Coddington, Patrick Henry, Gov. Josh. Wanton, 
Mrs. Wanton, Rev. J. Callender, John Adams, John 
Quincy Adams, and John and Mrs. Bannister. 
And on the south side is a fine painting of the Old 
Mill, by Geo. C. Mason, Esq., of Newport. 

The library hours are from May 1 to November 
1, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 
5 P.M.; and from November 1 to May 1, Tues- 
days and Saturdays, from 2 to 4 o'clock, P. M. 

A stroll among books always sets us a thinking. 
Here is 

A DAY-DREAM IN THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 

Saiclst thou, friend and poet perished;* 
Said, ere toil dimm"d reason's ray, 

Of thy volumes lov"d and cherished — ■ 
"Never-failing friends are they." 

Ah ! we never need be dreary 

When siich golden stores we find; 

Banquets left for spirit weary, 
By regenerated mind ! 

Wealth m^j fly, and friends deceive us, 

Love may lose its sunny looks ; 
But those pleasures seldom leave us 

Which we garner in from books. 

Harvests, finer far than golden 

Heaps of ever-fleeting store, 
Are the grains we glean from olden 

Fields of consecrated lore. 

* Southey. 



120 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

See these folios, brown and stately, 
Iron-clasped and timber bound, 

Where they, side by side, sedately 
Keep their places near the ground ; 

As if -well they knew their station, 
And for minor ranks overhead, 

They afforded sure foundation, 
Sterling metal furnished. 

In this chamber, still and solemn, 
Bacon builds again for me 

A sublime, heaven-soaring column 
Of clear-eyed philosophy. 

Graceful Sidney bids me listen 

'Till in ecstasy I cry. 
Whilst my eyes with rapture glisten, 

Am I, too, in Arcady ! 

Spenser, in majestic measure, 

And with grave, yet courtly mien, 

Takes me to the bowers of pleasure, 
Shows to me the Faery Queen ! 

Bunyan telleth me the story, 

How he penned from day to day. 

Prison -bound, his allegory 

Of the Pilgrinrs heavenward way. 

Pope, sharp-visaged, and sour-featured, 
Once more in the Dunciad sneers ; 

Churchill, coarse, and savage-natured, 
Blends solemnity with jeers. 

On ■3, with face reflecting glory, 
With serene but sightless eyes, 

Sings to me his deathless story 
Of the loss of Paradise ! 

Byron, in unearthly brightness, 
Stands before me, face to face ; 

Like the marble in his Avhiteness: 
Like th' Apollo in his grace. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. IZl 

Now, no more by anguish riven, 

Now, no more by madness bound, 
Cowper whispers me of heaven ; 

Of the mother lost and found ! 

Thou, too, from thy grave arisen 1 

Gentle, much-loved EHa, thou 1 
From thy scarcely-denized prison, 

With the old smile on thy brow. 

Ha ! I hear of silks a rusthng ; 

Hooped and furbelowed — in view 
Comes the piquant, witty, bustling, 

Sprightly, Wortley Montague ; 

And trick'd out, soft nothings muttering, 

Horace Wal pole's standing by, 
0"er each tasteful topic fluttering 

Like a learned butterfly. 

Walpole starts — and shrinks to nothing ! 

For a spectre lean and wan 
Looks upon the fop with loathing, 

"lis the ghost of Chatterton! 

Hemans, with her linked sweetness; 

Landon, with her mournful song, 
Pass me by with airy fleetness. 

Borne on viewless wings along! 

Thus with these, and countless others, 

Draughts of pure delight 1 sip : 
Dearer far than that of brothers. 

Is our mute companionship. 

Sunbeams, tinged with evening splendor, 
Slant through Redwood's lore-fraught fane ; 

And as dies the twilight tender, 
I am in the world again. 

mechanics' library association. 
This institution is situated in Main street. It pos- 
sesses a library of from two to three thousand volumes 



122 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

of books. It supports a course of lectures in the 
winter. 



A neat and appropriate building, belonging to the 
Fi'ce Masons, is situated in Church street. Not 
having been initiated into the mysteries of the craft, 
we must content ourselves with a mere outside view 
of it. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

There are seventeen public schools, viz. : 

Two senior departments, (corresponding with what 
are usually called " high schools ;") one for each sex. 

Four grammar schools ; two for boys, and two 
for girls. 

Two intermediate schools ; seven primary ; one 
" district school " for boys, and one for colored chil- 
dren, taught by twenty-one teachers, and containing 
about a thousand pupils, but furnishing accommoda- 
tion for 1160. The expenses of the schools are paid 
by moneys received from the State fund and taxes 
on the property of the town. Books and stationery 
are furnished by the committee, for the use of which 
the pupils are assessed from ten to fifty cents per 
quarter each ; and this is remitted, where there is 
reason to entertain the plea of inability. 

All the branches necessary to a finished English 
education are thoroughly taught, and also the Latin 
lanfj-uacic. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. ijiO 

NEWPORT ASYLUM. 

In the year 1819, the town of Newport commenced 
the erection of the Newport Asylum, on Coasters' 
Harbor Island. 

To reach the interesting place, the visitor should 
take a course north-westward from the town, where 
there are some very airy and pleasant streets, though 
it is not deemed a fashionable neighborhood. Pre- 
vious to the Revolutionary war, this was a very busy 
part of Newport ; for here were docks, wharves and 
warehouses, all of which were destroyed by the Bri- 
tish. This part of Newport is known as " The 
Point." On a beach near, formerly called " Bull's 
Point," twenty-six pirates were hanged together, on 
the 19th of July, 1723. These men were found on 
board the ship Fortune, commanded by Low, and 
the Ranger, commanded by one Harris ; both which 
piratical cruisers were captured fourteen leagues from 
the east end of Long Island by Captain Peter Sol- 
yard, of the English ship Greyhound, on the 1 0th of 
June previous. Leaving this place. Fort Greene, 
commonly called the Battery, is reached. It is now 
in ruins. From the shore, by means of a boat. Coast- 
ers' Harbor Island is swiftly and safely reached. 

The asylum is a handsome stone edifice, occupy- 
ing an airy and pleasant position, and appearing to 
great advantage from the harbor. As soon as the 
building was completed, it was put under the imme- 
diate charge of nine commissioners ; three of whom 



124 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

go out of office every year, and others are chosen to 
fill their places. The commissioners have entire 
control of the asylum and island, with the manage- 
ment of its affairs. Previous to building the asylum, 
the cost to the town of Newport for the support of 
the poor was about $7,000 per year. Since its 
establishment, that expense has been reduced con- 
siderably below $3,000. The keeper of the estab- 
lishment manages the farm for the commissioners, 
and takes care of the poor, for a stipulated salary. 
The produce of the ftirm and the manufactures meet 
in part the expense of the establishment, which ex- 
pense varies from about $3,000 to $4,000 per annum, 
as more or less inmates are therein, and as the price 
of 23rovisions rises and falls. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 125 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Eminent jNIen, Natives of, or connected with New- 
port — Greene — Perry — Callender — Stiles — 
A. Brown — Hopkins — Rodman — Gammel — Dunn 
— Waterhotse — Senter — Moffatt — Brett — 
G. Stuart — Malbone — Allston — Claggett — C . B. 
King — Wall — Stewart — Dutee Pearce — Robert 
Rogers — Col. Totten — B. Hazard — Bobbins, 
&c., &c. 

Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, himself a native of 
IN^ewport, in an article published in the Boston In- 
fellig 671067' in 1S24, entitled " Medical Literature of 
Rhode Island, with a sketch of some of her most 
eniinent men," says : — 

"The Island of Rhode Island, from its salubrity 
and surpassing beauty before the Revolutionary 
War so sadly defaced it, was the chosen resort of 
the rich and philosophic from nearly all parts of the 
Mvilized world. In no spot of the thirteen, or 
'ather twelve colonies, was there concentrated more 
individual opulence, learning, and liberal leisure." 

We have seen how the beautiful scenery, the de- 
ightful atmosphere, and the charms of literature 
md refinement induced the celebrated Dean Berke- 



126 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

ley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, to make this his 
residence for several years. Doubtless the charms 
of the literary society he found here had much to do 
with his unpremeditated stay. 

Newport may be considered remarkable either as 
the birth-place or the residence of some of the most 
eminent men of whom America can boast. In fact, 
according to Dr. Waterhouse, it was a very nursery 
of learning. He says : — " Newport was never want- 
ing in good classical schools. The Episcopal church 
and the Quakers, who were very numerous, took 
particular care of education, especially the first. 
Newport was the only place in New England where 
the Hebrew language was publicly read, and chaunt- 
ed by more than three hundred of the descendants 
of Abraham." 

Heroes, judges, statesmen, divines, physicians, 
lawyers, artists, merchants, and literary men, each 
eminent in their respective vocations, here found 
in Newport a natural or an adopted home. Wilkins 
Updike, Esq., in his excellent Biographical " Me- 
moirs of the Rhode Island Bar," a work which he 
ought by all means to continue, says : — "The people 
of Newport talk of their city as it was before the 
Revolution, in the palmy and classical days of Light- 
foot, and mourn over those departed times, when 
their island was the intellectual constellation of this 
western hemisphere. She was ornamented with her 
Hunter, her Halibiirton and MofTatt, in medicine and 
surgery. Brown, Clapp,'Callender, Honyman, Stiles, 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 127 

Hopkins and Thurston, in the ministry, and for a 
A'hile, illumined by the residence of Berkeley ; — and 
Lightfoot, Updike^ Scott, Robmson, Ellery, Johnson, 
Honyman, Marchant, Channing, Simpson and others 
.vithin her bar. And her general society, learned, 
polished and urbane. To which was added erudite 
md accomplished strangers, military and naval, in- 
iuced from the love of science and the charm of cli- 
nate to reside there." 

We shall briefly refer to some of these celebrities, 
or though the luminaries may be extinguished, their 
ame is imperishable. 

Among American heroes, whose names are con- 
lected with Newport, may be named Gen. Nathaniel 
jrreene, and Com. Oliver H. Perry. Gen. Greene 
'anked high as a military commander; he was 
I native of Warwick, in this state, and resided 
nany \^ears with his family in the town. Commo- 
lore Perry, the hero of Lake Erie, was born in 
^outh Kingston, and educated in Newport ; and here 
lis remains, having been brought from Trinidad, 
fv^ere buried in December, 1826. 

Of eminent divines, Newport can boast of a good- 
y number. Among the most celebrated, are John 
^allender, M. A., the author of the well-known 
' Historical Discourse." He was Pastor of the first 
Baptist church in Newport. 

Dr. Ezra Stiles, well known as a man of great 
iterary attainments, was for a number of years Pas- 



128 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

tor of the First Congregational Church in Newport. 
He was afterwards President of Yale College. 

Dr. Arthur Brown was born and received his edu- 
cation in Newport. He was a man of great celebrity 
as a scholar. He was afterwards President of Trin- 
ity College in Dublin. 

Dr. Samuel Hopkins was a Pastor of the First 
Congregational Church in Newport. He was a fine 
metaphysician, and distinguished as the originator of 
a system that bears his name. 

To come down to later times, Newport may well 
boast of that distinguished Pastor and scholar Wil- 
liam Ellery Channing. This great man was born 
here, in a house now occupied as a school by the 
Misses Coe, in Thames street. Mr. Channing's 
father was also a Newporter. 

Then we have had also the Eev. T. Rodman, an 
excellent and estimable clergyman, and a forcible 
writer on theology. 

Two learned natives of Newport now occupy pro- 
fessorial chairs in Brown University — Professor 
Wm. Gammel the Chair of History, and Professor 
Dunn that of English Literature. 

Physicians, able and good, have also adorned 
Newport. Dr. Watcrhouse, to whom we have be- 
fore referred — Dr. William Hunter, who in 1756 
gave, at New^port, in the Court-house, the first Ana- 
tomical and Surgical Lecture, ever delivered in the 
twelve Colonies. He was a man of great skill — had 
been well educated at Edinburgh, and possessed 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 129 

much taste in the fine arts. " It may be doubted 
whether Boston, New York or Philadelphia," says 
"VVaterhouse, speaking of Drs. Hunter and Halibur- 
ton, " ever had, at one and the same time, two prac- 
titioners of physic and surgery better educated and 
more skilful than these two gentlemen." 

Dr. Isaac Senter was a resident of Newport — per- 
haps a native. He was an eminent chemist. 

The names, too, of Moffatt and Brett are intimately 
connected with Newport. They were both eminent 
in their profession. 

Among lawyers, Judge Lightfoot was conspicuous. 
He was a native of London, and had been a Judge 
in the Southern District of the United States, but 
the climate enfeebling his health, he came to New- 
port to renovate his impaired constitution. Charmed 
with the society here he was disinclined to return, 
and resigned his office. 

Lightfoot was the oracle of the literary men of 
Newport. Waterhouse says, " He was a perfect 
encyclopedia, and constantly dined from home. He 
was not a buffoon nor a mimic, but a fine relator of 
apt anecdotes. I am not certain that he ever read 
law as a profession, yet he was master of it as well 
as of the science of learning." 

Mention, too, must here be made of the late Dutee 
J. Pearce, Esq. He was born on Prudence Island, 
in this State, but resided nearly all his life in New- 
port. For many years he represented the State in 
Congress, and was formerly Attorney General. 



130 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

Newport has been prolific of artists. The beau- 
tiful and enchanting scenery of the island is a reason, 
perhaps, why so many of her sons in their youthful 
days indulge in poetry and painting. Whatever the 
cause, it is certain that Newport has furnished, or 
fostered more great painters than any other city of 
the Union. 

Among portrait painters, it would be difficult to find 
in any country one who possessed higher gifts than 
the late Gilbert Stuart. There is nothing meretri- 
cious in his works — no flashy accessories deformed his 
pictures, for he despised the clap-traps of art as 
heartily as Sir Joshua Reynolds himself. It may 
be said of Stuart, as it has been said of that great 
artist, that he never painted a portrait without paint- 
ing a picture also. Not only was Stuart happy in 
sketching the features of a face, but he caught the 
character also — that difficult art, without which 
a limner degenerates into a mere copyist of 
eyes, noses and mouths. Let any one gaze on the 
glorious picture of Washington which adorns the 
Senate Chamber, and he will feel assured that it gives 
the character and the expression of its illustrious 
original. And yet the effect is so quietly produced ! 
No glaring colors — no studied attitude — no gaudy 
curtains to " throw out " the figure — all is subdued, 
harmonious and effective. Had not Stuart painted 
Washington, we question whether the true features 
of the Father of his Country would have so satisfac- 
torily been preserved. We might mention other 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 131 

heads by Stuart — Martha Washhigton, for instance 
— but what has been said of one may be affirmed of 
all. Newport may well be proud of possessing the 
portrait of America's greatest man, from the pencil 
of her greatest painter ! Gilbert Stuart died in Bos- 
ton in 1848, aged 73 years. 

Edward Malbone, another native of Newport, was, 
perhaps, one of the finest of miniature painters. His 
works will not lose by comparison with those of the 
celebrated Cosway, or the paintings of the present 
Sir William C. Ross. To perfect himself in his art, 
Malbone went to England, and was introduced to 
West, his great countryman, then President of the 
Royal Academy. Sir Benjamin West having ex- 
amined some of his works, asked him why he had 
come to England. Mr. Malbone answered — to per- 
fect himself in the art of painting. West replied — 
" Sir, you can go home again, for a man who can 
paint such a picture as this, need not come to Eng- 
land for instruction." 

Malbone was not a mere copyist. His exquisite 
painting, " The Hours," now in the possession of 
his sister, Mrs. John Whitehouse, is a rare gem of art, 
as original in conception as it is beautiful in execu- 
cution. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in the " House with 
Seven Gables," places in the hands of Hepzebah 
Pyncheon a miniature by Malbone — a graceful com- 
pliment to the genius of the artist. 

Mr. Malbone's devotion to his profession so in- 
jured his health, that in 1806 he was compelled to re- 



132 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

linquish his pencil. He died in Savannah in May, 
]807, of consumption. 

Washington Allston, an artist of undoubted genius, 
though not born in Newport, received his first in- 
structions in painting from Mr. Samuel King, who 
resided in the town ; and his propensity for painting 
was probably cultivated by his residence amidst the 
scenery of Newport, whence he had come from South 
Carolina to attend the classical school kept by the 
late Robert Rogers, who was also the instructor of 
Dr. Channing, whose sister Allston married. Allston 
was a man of vivid and remarkable genius — a great 
artist, and an otherwise gifted individual. It is suf- 
ficient praise to say that he was the intimate friend 
and beloved companion of Coleridge. Of that re- 
markable being he painted the best portrait ever 
taken. Coleridge and all his friends, Southey in- 
cluded, agreed in this opinion. It is strange that of 
the many portraits taken of the author of '* Christa- 
bel," only one should have truly delineated the poet. 
This portrait was painted for Mr. Wade, of Bristol, 
England. It has been only once engraved ; a beautiful 
fac-simile of it is attached as a frontispiece to the 
English edition, published by Bogue, of the " Pen- 
and-Ink Sketches " which first appeared in the Bos- 
ton Atlas some six or seven years ago. 

William Claggett, a celebrated artist, not a na- 
tive, but an adopted son of Newport, where he spent 
more than twenty years of his life, deserves a place 
in this volume. He came to this country from 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 133 

Wales, when about twelve years of age. He served 
his time as an apprentice at the clock-making bu- 
siness in Boston, where he remained until 1727, 
when he removed to Newport, and commenced bu- 
siness. Many of his clocks are still to be seen in 
some of the ancient dwellings of Newport. 

Claggett was also a great electrician, and had an 
immense machine in his house. He was acquainted 
mth Benjamin Franklin, who, when he visited New- 
port, saw such apparatus as Claggett's for the first 
time. After the death of Mr. Claggett, and while 
Dr. Franklin was in Philadelphia, his son, Thomas 
Claggett, desirous of setting up a machine on the 
plan improved by Dr. Franklin, and as a cylinder 
was not to be obtained in this part of the country, 
sent to the Doctor to procure one for him. His 
request was readily complied with by Franklin, 
who, when learning that it was for the son of his old 
friend, refused to accept the money sent for its pur- 
chase. 

Mr. Charles B. King, an artist of great ability, 
now resident in Washington City, is also a native 
of Newport. His portraits of Abraham Eedwood 
and Columbus, with others, are to be seen in the 
Redwood Library. 

Another artist resident in Newport was an Irish 

gentleman, Mr. W. H. Wall, a landscape painter of 

great ability, and without a rival in water colors. 

Many of his finest productions are in the hands of 

1 



134: HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

Newport connoisseurs. He is now flourishing in 
Dublin. 

The celebrated "Walking Stewart" for some 
time resided in Newport, of which, in one of his 
amusing works, he has recorded some pleasant 
notices. 

Among the notabilities of Newport was Abraham 
Touro, a Hebrew gentleman, and a native of the 
town. He founded the Jews' Cemetery, and was 
buried there. A street bears his name. 

Of Abraham Redwood, Esq., a notice will be 
found in our notice of the Redwood Library. 

Baron Kinsale, an Irish nobleman, was a native of 
Newport. 

Mr. Benjamin Hazard, a man of remarkable ge- 
nius, and of vast logical acumen, was a native of 
Newport. 

The town can also boast of a gifted son, Asher 
Robbins, Esq. Mr. Robbins was a profound lawyer, 
and an United States Senator. He was, perhaps, 
the best Greek scholar in the United States. Mrs. 
Sophia Little, his daughter, is a poetess of great 
merit. 

Another eminent Newporter, but recently de- 
ceased, was William Hunter, LL.D., son of the 
Dr. William Hunter who was the first lecturer on 
anatomy in the colonies. Dr. William Hunter was 
a ripe scholar, and a most estimable citizen. He 
was at one time an United States Senator, and also 
M nister to Rio Janeiro. He was highly distin- 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 135 

guished for his extensive learning and his great 
eloquence. 

Newport was in 1780 visited by a French fleet, 
and an army of brave men. The fleet was com- 
manded by the Chevalier De Ternay, and the army 
by the Count De Rochambeau. De Ternay died 
soon after his arrival in the town, and was buried 
with military honors in Trinity church-yard. 

It may be mentioned in this place that General 
Washington visited Newport in March 1781. He 
passed over from the main by Canonicut Ferry, and 
landed from his barge at the foot of Long Wharf 
As he passed the French fleet, lying back of the 
Fort, they fired a salute, and the army was drawn 
up in order for his reception at the Long Wharf. 
They formed in two lines, extending from the house 
of William Vernon, Esq., at the south end of Clark 
street, to the Parade, thence to the west end of Long 
Wharf. Washington marched up between the two 
lines, receiving the warm congratulations of his fel- 
low citizens, and the same honors from his generous 
allies which they said they paid their king. The 
town was illuminated the evening after his arrival 
at Newport. This was the first interview he enjoyed 
with the French officers ; and it is said here Wash- 
ington and Count De Rochambeau laid their plans 
for an attack on New York, which was disconcerted 
by the arrival of a large fleet and army to the assist- 
ance of Sir Henry Clinton, under the command of 
Admiral Rodnev. 



136 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

We cannot conclude this notice of Newport cele- 
brities without mentioning that the always pleasant 
society of Newport was for many years greatly in- 
debted for a vast addition to its sources of enjoy- 
ment to the genial society of Colonel, now General 
Totten. This gentleman was the engineer employed 
by Government at Fort Adams. Colonel Totten 
possessed in a very remarkable degree the happy 
faculty of adding to the delight of every circle he 
entered. A more generally accomplished man we 
have never known. A naturalist, a chemist, and a 
man of general knowledge on most subjects, his con- 
versation was delightful. It will be remembered 
that in his own profession he was greatly distin- 
guished, he having conducted the bombardment at 
Vera Cruz. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 137 



CHAPTER XV. 

Islands and Forts in Narragansett Bay — Islands 

Canonicut, Prudence, Patience, Hope, Despair, 
Hog, Gould, Dyer's, Coaster's Harbor, Rose, Goat, 
and Dutch— Forts — Adams, Greene, Woolcott, and 
Leavis. 

We said in a former chapter that in Narragansett 
Bay was a group of islands, constituting a small 
archipelago. Of these, Rhode Island, as the largest 
and most important, we have more particularly 
described. We will now take a tour among the 
other ocean-circled islands, with the design rather of 
sailing round them than of minutely chronicling 
their positions and p)eculiarities. 

Second in size to Rhode is the island of Canoni- 
cut. As seen on the map, it presents a long, strag- 
gling appearance. It is almost divided into two 
islands, for the southern portion is connected with 
the northern by a "leading string" of land, so that 
the big part of Canonicut looks as though the little 
part was a parasite, a sort of Remora, which tena- 
ciously adhered to it by a single sucker. 

Canonicut is a beautiful island, with occasional 
eminences, from whence splendid views are obtain- 



138 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

ed. Its shores slope gently to the sea, and all the 
lines of surface are in conformity with the usual na- 
tural lines of beauty and grace. Its soil is rich. 
From north to south its length is about seven miles. 
It includes a single township, incorporated, in 1678, 
by the name of Jamestown. Its population is about 
six to seven hundred. 

The Beaver-tail Light stands on its southernmost 
point. 

Prudence Island is the next in point of size. Then 
we have Patience Island, Hope Island, Despair Is- 
land, Hog Island, Gould Island, Dyer's Island, 
Coaster's Harbor Island, Eose Island, Goat Island, 
Dutch Island, and we were going to say Block 
Island, but the latter lies away to the southwest, 
and all who wish to learn its story must read Rich- 
ard H. Dana's "Buccaneer." We only quote one 
of his introductory stanzas — 

'• The island lies nine leagues away. 
Along its solitary shore 
Of craggy rock and sandy bay 
No sound but ocean's roar, 
Save where the bold wild sea-bird makes her home, 
Her shrill cry coming through the sparkling foam !"' 

And on this Block Island the admirers of Matthew 
Lee may indulge themselves in buccaneering rambles 
to their heart's content. 

Very beautiful are all these islands — gems of the 
Bay of Narragansett — and pleasantly, too, are they 
named ! — we might, perhaps, say appropriately. 
When, remembering the struggles, sorrows, efforts, 



IJAND-BOOK OF NEWrORT. 13 'J 

and aspirations of those who first were familiar with 
theiQ, we fancy we hear the echoes of their key- 
notes of experience. Canonicut retains its old name 
— and Canonicus, the Sachem of Narragansett, yet 
haunts, in our memory, his own old Indian ground. 
But the other islands have lost their sonorous appel- 
lations. They still, however, retain what we may 
consider to be expressive epithets. Let us, in a fit 
of fancy, wander among them, and wonder why that 
crooked territory should be christened " Prudence," 
and why its little sister along side it should be de- 
signated " Patience." Excellent virtues are these ; 
and perchance some ladies (the virtues are all femi- 
nine), beloved by the first voyagers hereabouts, w^ere 
gifted above measure w^ith caution and forbearance. 
Not far west of Prudence lies Hope Island, with 
Despair Island close to it ; but, happily, Despair is 
only a speck on the waters, whilst Hope presents a 
broad and bright surface. Dyer's Island may have 
been a place where the changers of colors resided. 
[Fact, however, banishes fancy, and assures us that 
the island was named after Dyre, one of the early 
settlers.] And Gould Island, an imaginary California 
to some enthusiast. Then how odoriferous are the 
breezes which "flow soft from Rose's Isle;" and how 
picturesque the crags might have been on the shore 
of Goat Island when the kids used to leap there. 
Haply some great apple-gourmand christened the 
" Dumplings ;" and it may be that a phlegmatic son 
of the Scheldt first smoked his pipe on Dutch Island, 



140 HAND-BOOK OF KEWPOET. 

which even until now keeps a glowing pipe, in the 
shape of a light-house ! Hog Island was, possibly, a 
porcine paradise ; and Coaster's Harbor Island an 
asylum from the sea storms of yore, as it now is an 
asylum from the long storm of unsuccessful life ; 
and the Solitary Cormorant Rock, ofFSachuest Point, 
might have been the retreat of some rapacious old 
man of the sea, who, perched on his crag, might have 
looked hungrily on approaching vessels, in the hope 
of a wreck and spoil. 

Having adverted to the Islands, let us now glance 
at the Forts. 

Happily, they are silent now. Some have long 
ago gone to dust and ruin, and only one frowns 
along the steep. The chief of these national defences 
in the neighborhood of Newport is 

FORT ADAMS. 

This structure stands on a point of land opposite 
the wharves of Newport. A sail of ten minutes 
duration from Bannister's pier conveys the visitor to 
the opposite shore. There he may walk round the 
ramparts, see the beautiful view which it commands 
of town and bay and bold sea shore, without any 
intervening ol)staclcs. An order from the proper 
authorities will admit to the various offices. The 
appointments are, in all respects, perfect, and must 
gratify all visitors. In summer, there is a review in 
the great square of the fort on Tuesdays and Fridays. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



141 



When the artillery exercise, the manoeuvres are 
executed without the walls. 



FORT GREENE 



Lies north of the town, nearly opposite the light- 
house end of Goat Island. It is a mere ruin. 



FORT WOOLCOTT 



Stands on Goat Island. It is only used now as a 
station in case of infectious diseases, and is not 
garrisoned. 



FORT LOUIS, 



or Fort Dumpling, stands on one of the Dumpling 
rocks. It is now only a shell of masonry. 




On rvos3 Island, the remains of a f^rt and barracks 
are visible. 

7* 



142 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Tammany Hill — The Observatory — Malbone House 
— Anecdotes of the Malbones — Mr. Hall's Mansion 
— Cemeteries. 

If the visitor desires to behold, at a glance, one of 
the most extensive and delightful views which the 
vicinity can boast of, he should take a stroll to Tam- 
many Hill. 

When Mr. William Coddington came to look for 
a place of settlement, he found a tribe of Indians on 
the island, whose sachem was Wonnumetonomy. 
His wigwam stood on a remarkable hill at the north 
part of the township of Newport. Coddington ap- 
plied to the sachem to purchase the island, whose 
answer was that Canonicus and Miantonimo were 
the chief sachems, and that he could not sell the 
land. This Wonnumetonomy was the resident 
sachem or governor of this island, under the Narra- 
gansett sachems. The place of his residence was 
called by the English after his name, vulgarly abbre- 
viated to Tonomy Hill, until about thirty years 
since, when it underwent a new corruption, and is 
now generally called Tammany Hill. Tonomy Hill 
may, thei'cf(.)re, be considered as having been the 



HAKD-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 143 

royal residence of the sachems both before and after 
the conquest of the island by the Narragansetts. 

This Tammany Hill was once fortified. It termi- 
nated the left wing of the intrenchments which the 
British threw up around the town while in possession 
of the island. 

On its crest now stands a wooden structure, called 
an observatory, about fifty feet high. From its 
summit magnificent views of the town, bay, islands, 
ocean, and the surrounding country are obtained. It 
is the property of Dr. Rowland Hazard. 

Near Tammany Hill once stood Malbone House. 
It was in old times a splendid mansion, one of the 
old-fashioned places where borders of box-wood were 
clipped into compulsory regularity, and yew trees 
fashioned into ornithological monsters. Until within 
a few years vestiges of elegance yet remained, but 
now no traces of them remain. 

Mr. Malbone was one of the most opulent men in 
the provinces, and his residence was a perfect ban- 
queting house. The beautiful edifice, however, was 
suddenly destroyed. One day, when a large party 
had assembled at dinner, an alarm of fire was given ; 
a spark had kindled the soot in the kitchen chimney. 
Every assistance was rendered; but the wind was 
high, and before nightfiill Malbone House was a 
heap of smoking ruins. 

It is said that the house owed its destruction to 
the pi-ide of Mrs. Malbone, who could not endure to 
have her spacious halls and parlors polluted by a 



I'M HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOET. 

rabble of country boys and flxrmers, nor allow them 
to trample with their dusty shoes over her rich car- 
pets and mahogany stairs, even to preserve her. 
stately mansion from destruction ; and that being 
allowed to enter only by the back doors, it was 
found impossible to convey water to the roof fast 
enough to extinguish the flames, in consequence of 
which the haughty lady lost the house she prized so 
mAich. 

Mr. Malbone bore his loss almost stoically, for it 
so happened that he had a large party on the fatal 
day to dinner. Finding that no eflbrts could arrest 
the progress of the flames, he ordered the dinner to 
be conveyed to an out-building adjacent, coolly ob- 
serving — " If I have lost my house, that is no reason 
that we should lose our dinner." 

On the site of Malbone House now stands the 
beautiful mansion of the Hon. J. Prescott Hall, Dis- 
trict-Attorney for New York. It is built of brown 
stone. On the left of the front is a tower, from the 
summit of which is an unrivalled prospect of the bay 
and surrounding country. Around the dwelling is a 
verandah, from whence the views also are delightful : 
fine cedar trees with their dark masses of foliage 
agreeably shading the lingerers in that delicious re- 
treat. The dwelling is a pattern of elegant simpli- 
city, and reminds one of a good English rural home 
— a mother-country gentleman's country house. Nor 
does the exterior convey a flilse impression of the 
owner, who is characterised by hospitality and all 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 145 

those genial tastes which render such a residence a 
" little heaven below." 

Near the house are the stables, fitted up with 
every regard to comfort and convenience. Over the 
entrance is the cranium of an elk with branching 
horns. The structure is really an ornament to the 
landscape, and not, as is too often the case with such 
offices, a deformity and a nuisance. 

Nor far from Tammany Hill is the Cemetery. It 
is a large piece of ground, well filled with the bones 
of the "rude forefathers" of the town. Conspicuous 
among the monuments is the obelisk to the memory 
of Commodore Perry, the hero of Lake Erie. There 
is a smaller place of burial opposite the North Bap- 
tist Church (Dr. Choules's), in which repose the re- 
mains of several former governors of the colony. 



146 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



A Ride to the Stone Bridge — Vauci.use — Pictures 
— Quaker's Hill — Battle there — The Bridge — 
Sharking, &c. 

The visitor to Newport who may be inclined for 
an island trip, may very pleasantly spend a day on 
a visit to the Stone Bridge. 

This link of communication with the main land 
may be approached by the east road. Travelling 
along this thoroughfare, on either side will be seen 
hills, not of great altitude, but with gentle slopes 
and verdant valleys between them. " The surflice is 
everywhere," says D wight, " easy and graceful." 
That the grass is fine and plenty, the herds feeding 
on the hill sides and meadows testify. Rolling 
along, as we gaze we think of the excellent Dean 
Berkeley, not yet come to his see, who, doubtless, 
many a time and oft viewed this living landscape. 
Had the mitre of Cloyne then circled his beneficent 
brow, we might aptly have quoted the stave which a 
rural rhymester of England chanted on tho occur- 
rence of a "Visitation" of a Right Reverend Father 
in God of one of the English dioceses, and which ran 
somewhat In this fashion : — 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 147 

"The mountains they did skip, and the little hills did hop, 
To see His Reverence, my Lord Bi shop !" 

Orchards and homesteads greet us at every turn 
of the road. Unfortunately, the peachworm has 
played havoc with the blooming darlings of the sun ; 
but, as a substitute, on many a cherry tree hangs 
luscious fruit, which, half hidden by foliage, gleam 

" Like golden lamps in a green night." 

It is said that the trunks of some of these trees 
bear marks of the ravages of the British during 
the w^ar, in the shape of bullet marks. Pity that 
they had not a better taste for cherries ! We can 
almost fancy the very stones (of the fruit) crying out 
against them, albeit they w^ere brother redcoats ! 

Any one fond of pictures, good pictures, would do 
well to visit on his journey to the stone bridge, Vau- 
CLusE, It is to the right of the road, and a very 
Paradise of Painters. A natural gallery in little, 
Vaucluse, or Van Cluse, is the seat of T. R. Hazard, 
Esq., a gentleman well known as a keen appreciator 
of art, and a true philanthropist. To one, like 
ourselves, an art lover, we cannot say more than 
Try to procure from the collector and enshriner of 
the gems within this Vaucluse Casket, the permission 
of a peep, and if you succeed, and come away from 
the feast undelighted, then have we no partiality for 
pigments, and a contempt for canvass. 

On our way we observe a Friends' Meeting House, 
just below the hill called Meeting House Hill, and 



14:8 HAND-BOOK OF NEWrORT. 

sometimes Quaker Hill, in a valley where a battle was 
fought between the Americans under General Sulli- 
van, and the British under Sir Robert Pigot. The 
Americans had crossed the river with an intention of 
attacking the British force at Newport, while the 
French fleet under the command of the Count D'Es- 
tang, was expected to second their efforts by sea. 
The Count being drawn from his station by the ad- 
dress of Lord Howe, put to sea in pursuit of the 
British fleet. Here he was overtaken by a violent 
storm, August 11th, and suffered so severely, that he 
concluded to return to Boston with his fleet. A small 
number of his ships only came up with the British, 
and these were roughly handled. Thus the enter- 
prise was abandoned by the French Admiral. After- 
wards, an engagement took place in the valley, 
between the Americans under General Greene, and 
the British, in which the British had the worst of it. 

In the narrowest part of Narragansett Bay, which 
is formed by the influx of the Taunton and Pawtuck- 
et Rivers, it is about half a mile from Rhode Island 
to the eastern shore. Here formerly existed How- 
land's Ferry, but now, a substantial structure spans 
the flood, which, with arrowy swiftness, rushes be- 
neath. Two bridges had been erected over the tide, 
which at this strait is amazingly rapid, but both 
failed ; the second, erected at a cost of $26,000, was 
ruined by the sea worms. 

Some years since it was proposed to form a com- 
munication between the Island and the main land, by 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. l49 

filling up the M'liole breadth of the East Eiver, ex- 
cept a narrow passage, with stone dropped into the 
water, and suffered to fall as chance might direct, 
and one third of the depth was said to be filled with 
the foundations of the ruined bridges. Seventy 
thousand dollars, it was supposed, could not cover the 
whole expense. 

This project was carried into execution. From the 
Tiverton side plenty of stone was obtained, and in 
1S06 the proposed bridge was completed. Masses 
of granite of various sizes had been brought to the 
spot, dropped into the water, and suffered to fall ad 
libitum. In this way the vast heaps, with a passage 
between them, were raised to the low water mark. 
Above this a bridge of the same materials was raised 
of mason work, to the proper height above high- 
water mark, when strong walls of stone were built 
at the sides, and the flooring covered with gravel. 
The work was executed under the superintendence of 
Daniel Lyman, Esq., and cost $70,000. 

Here may be obtained fine views of the once 
Mount Hope — now Bristol — where once in sylvan 
grandeur resided Massassoit, the celebrated Sachem 
of the Wampanoags, and also his son Philip. 

There is a capital hotel here — the Stone Bridge 
House (on the Tiverton side), which in the season 
is a place of great resort, and where, it is almost 
needless to say, anything conducive to creature com- 
fort may be obtained. 

The great sport here is " sharking," — not at the 



150 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

hotel, but on the shore — for the sea lawyers are fre- 
quent visitors to Narragansett Bay. Close to the Stone 
Bridge, may these voracious creatures be hooked, 
and when at the end of a pork-baited line one of the 
ferocious fish flounders savagely on the land, much 
joy reigns throughout the neighborhood, because the 
unfortunate Carcharias Vulgaris has expiated imagi- 
nary crimes. We cannot, for the life of us, join in 
the howl against the shark — it only, when it nips 
a limb, follows its natural instincts — as Dr. Watts 
says : 

" It is their nature to." 

Sharks must have something to eat, and are often 
hungry. We flincy that those who most blame, are 
subject to like passions, and gratify them with as 
much gusto as a shark disposes of a dead sailor. The 
truth is, we created beings are all of us eating animals. 
The civilized citizen disguises his food by cookery ; 
the beasts take theirs raw — that is all the diifcrcnce. 
The Alderman rejoices in turtle ; the Cannibal in his 
" cold roast missionary." This latter fact was keenly 
felt by a newly created bishop of New Zealand, who 
just before sailing to his diocese, called to bid Syd- 
ney Smith good bye. "You are fat, and full of 
gravy," remarked the consolatory Canon of St. Paul's, 
" and you are going among Cannibals — but, my 
dear fellow, if they eat you, I hope you'll disagree 
with their stomachs." 

A iaw years since, while a lad was fishing in a 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 151 

small boat, in the outer harbor of Newport, his boat 
was attacked in a most furious manner by a shark. 
After the first attack, the shark leaped from the 
ocean into the boat, which from his floundering he 
would have sunk, had not another boat, near at hand, 
come to the relief of the boy. With great difficulty 
the monster was killed. He measured eight feet in 
length, was of the most ferocious of his species, and 
an unmistakable marine man-eater. He weighed 
nearly four hundred pounds. 



152 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORl", 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Useful Information — Professional Lists — Banks — 
Stages, &c. &c. 

Statistics are very dry, and directories are dull ; 
but useful information is not always sure, as Mr. 
Micawber would say, to turn up now and then just 
in the " nick of time." Therefore we deem it ad- 
visable to jot down a few items of information, which 
may be serviceable and save trouble to the stranger 
in Newport. 

The Clergy List will be found in our chapter on 
Churches. 

physicians in new^port. 

Dr. Theophilus C. Dunn, 

Dr. James Turner. 

Dr. Daniel Watson. 

Dr. Cotton. 

Dr. David R. King, 

Dr. J. J. Ellis, Portsmouth. 

Dr. Llenry Turner. 

Dr. O. C. Turner. 

Dr. W. A. Watson. 

Dr. Buller. 

Dr. Wood, (Botanic Physician.) 

Dr. Reh, (Hydropathic Physician.) 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 353 

LAWYERS. 

George Turner, Esq. 
Henry Y. Cranstoun, Esq. 
C. G. Perry, Esq. 
William H. Cranstoun. 
Wm. Gilpin, Esq. 

BANKS. 

Newport Bank. 

Rhode Island Bank. 

R. I. Union Bank. 

New England' Commercial Bank. 

Traders' do. 

Merchants' do. 

Exchange do. 

Savings do. 

LIBRARY (circulating). 

Mr. James Hammond. 

Upwards of 8000 volumes of standard works, to 
which additions are constantly being made, are to 
be found in this well-appointed establishment. An 
excellent catalogue has been prepared, and Mr. Ham- 
mond himself is a bibliopole of the best class. 

NEWSPAPER AND PERIODICAL DEPOT. 

Benj. T. Tilley. 



154: HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Newport Daily News and ( Weekly) Herald of the 
Times. (Whig.) Edited by Wm. IT. Craustoun, 
Esq. 

Newport Weekly Mercury, (Neutral). Estab- 
lished 1761. Edited by George C. Mason, Esq. 

Neivport Advertiser — a Democratic Organ (Week- 
ly). Edited by Jas. Atkinson, Esq. 

POST OFFICE THAMES STREET. 

Post Master — M. J. Coggeshall. 

COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS. 

Hon. E. W. Law ton. 

TELEGRAPH AND EXPRESS OFFICE, 

At Kinsleys', in Thames street, near the United 
States Hotel. 



Ocean House — Touro street. 

Mr. John Weaver, proprietor. 

The drawing-room of this establishment is really 
superb, and the other appointments of the house 
admirable. 

Atlantic House — Corner of Pelham and Touro 
streets. 

Mr. Joseph B. Weaver, j^roprietor. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



155 




156 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

An admirable establishment — fitted up with taste 
and splendor, and with every accommodation for 
visitors. 

Belle Vue Hotel — Belle Vue street. 

Mr. William Hazard, proprietor. 

This hotel possesses one of the finest dining- 
rooms in America, and the bed- rooms and private 
apartments possess every desirable convenience. 

United States Hotel — Pelham and Main streets. 

Mr. A. B. Copeland, proprietor. 

A centrally situated hotel — in the very heart of 
the town, and near the steamboat wharves. 

Park House — near the State House. 

Proprietor, Mr. Edw. A. Hassard. 

A capital hotel — and provided with all conveni- 
ences for families and business men. 

Pelham Street House. 

Mr. Horton, proprietor. 

A quiet, respectable hotel, and well managed. 

BOARDING HOUSES. 

Church Street House — Mr. A. Wilbur. 

Murray House — Mrs. Murray. 

Kay Street House — Miss Anthony. 

Toiiro House — Mr. E. Sheldon. 

Baiemati's House^ near Castle Hill — S. Bateman, 
Esq. 

There are a number of other boarding houses be- 
side these above named, that may easily be found 
out in an hour's stroll through Newport. 



HAA^D-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



157 




158 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

MILITARY COMPANY. 

The Artillery Company, formed in 1741, com- 
manded by Col. G. G. Perry ; and by its charter 
allowed officers with titles of Regimental Officers ; is 
in a flourishing condition, and excellent drill. They 
have a fine stone Armory, next south of the Central 
Baptist Church. 

BATHS. 

Oriental Baths — Corne street. These baths are 
admirably arranged, and are presided over by Dr. 
Charles B. Peckham, who is the Priessnitz of Va- 
pour. We commend and recommend Dr. Peck- 
ham's establishment to all who require such aid as 
he affords. 

HOT AND COLD WATER BATHS. 

These baths, situated on Long-wharf, are kept by 
Judge Trevett, " a fine old gentleman all of the olden 
time," whose chit-chat is as pleasant as are his baths, 
and that is saying a good deal. A long time ago he 
was the dominie of a boy's school, and among his 
pupils were some now men of note. Governor 
Marcy was at one time his assistant ! 

BEACH BATHING. 

Batlih}(f House Proprietors — 
Mr, Gollc, 
Mr. Ojuan, 
Messi-s. Tew cc Crosbv. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 159 

LIVERY STABLES. 

A. Stewart, Pelliam street. 
Messrs. Tennents, Touro street. 
Mr. Hazard, near Court House. 
A. B. Copelaud, United States Hotel. 

STAGES. 

Kinsley's — to Fall River and Providence daily. 

STEAMBOATS. 

Empire State, "1 _, ^_ ,^ , „ 

/> iv/r • Between New York and Boston 

e or Mame, K. 

g^^^^g^ J daily, calling at Newport. 



Bay 

Perry, to Providence daily. 

Canonicus, during summer to Fall River, and 

Miantonomi, do. do. to Providence. 

The accommodations on board these boats are ad- 
mirable. The Perry is a beautiful vessel, and a 
delightful trip to Providence and back in her, cannot 
fail to delight. Her officers are all that can be 
wished. 

FIRE ENGINE AND HOSE COMPANIES. 

There are seven fire companies in Newport, all 
admirably managed. 

PLEASURE BOATS 

May be hired at reasonable rates, at various wharves. 



160 HAND-BOOK OF NEAVPORT. 

BOWLING SALOONS, &C. 

Mr. Goffe's, next north of the Ocean House. 
These alleys, to quote the seductive card of the pro- 
prietor, are of the first class, and are not surpassed 
by any in the country. Thev number fourteen in 
all, five of which are expressly for ladies. 

There are billiard tables, and other passing-away- 
time appliances, at Mr. Goffe's. Mr. Cobb, on the 
Bath road, has the bowling saloons long so well 
known as Vose's. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



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1G2 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Miscellaneous Remarks — A Newport Relic — Man- 
sions — Fishing — The Germania Society — Vale. 

Our pleasant task is almost at an end ; not that 
we have exhausted our subject ; for during our pen- 
and-ink rambles about Newport, material has so 
crowded upon us, that, were we so minded, we might 
swell this little book into a bulky volume. But then 
it would not be a hand-book — a companion for a 
walk, and an amusement during rest. So, as poor 
Dora Copperfield said, " It is better as it is." 

Perhaps some who run their eyes over these light 
pages may feel inclined to follow up the idea, and 
collect, in a better and more solid form, matter which 
may properly be styled a history of Newport. There 
is a wide and an open field for the topographer and 
local chronicler in this fine old town. Here many 
stirring scenes have been enacted, and here many a 
house has its history. We have only cleared away 
the sod : let others dig the shaft, and they will 
scarcely fail to bring to the surface ore worth the 
having, and which they may smelt in the furnace of 
truth with advantage. 

Some of this historical local ore lies on the suiface, 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 163 

mid needs little delving for. For instance, a day or 
two since, we chanced to stroll into a wharf-side 
store, and saw fastened against the wall a huge log 
of wood. It w^as old, worm-eaten and decayed, and, 
so far, not attractive ; but on it was stuck a slip, cut 
from a newspaper; and, being readers of everything 
that comes in our way, we put on our spectacles, and, 
gathering up, to save them from the dust and grease 
of the oil casks, the skirts of our snuff-colored coat, 
we read as follows : 

"It is not generally known (says the Providence 
Journal) that the remains of Captain Cook's ship, the 
Endeavor, are now lying in the harbor of New^port. 
This was the ship which carried out the celebrated 
Sir Joseph Banks, and the great Swedish naturalist. 
Dr. Solander. A well-known scientific gentleman of 
the city of New^ York, Dr. John W. Francis, during the 
last summer, obtained a piece of one of her timbers, 
with the view of having it made into snuff-boxes, to 
be distributed among the most eminent scientific 
societies in Europe and America. The ' Endeavor ' 
was purchased for a whaling vessel, and her ultimate 
destiny was to deposit her bones in the waters of 
New^port harbor." 

The Boston Transcri2)t, of the 29th ult., on the 
authority of eminent shipmasters, denied that the 
remains of the Endeavor were lying in the neighbor- 
hood of Newport, and asserted that they lie in the 
river Thames. On the following day, however, it 
appeared that a gentleman who had noticed said de- 



164 HAND-BOOK OF NEWrORT. 

nial called at the office of the Trcmscrij^f, and placed 
in the editor's hands a piece of the wood of the ship 
in question, together with the subjoined certificate, 
which the editor considers beyond dispute : 

'•I, John B. Gilpin, his Britannic majesty's consul 
for the State of Rhode Island, do hereby certify, to 
the best of my knowledge and belief, that the an- 
nexed small piece of wood is part of the keel of his 
Britannic majesty's late ship, the Endeavor, in which 
Captain James Cook made his first voyage round 
the world, in the years 1768-69-70 and 71, accom- 
panied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. 

"The Endeavor was afterwards sold to Mr. William 
Hayden, of New Bedford, though at that time resi- 
dent in Erance, and fitted out from Dunkirk on 
whaling voyages. She afterwards came to Newport, 
Rhode Island, and consigned to Messrs. Gibbs and 
Channing, from whom I had this information, and, 
taking on board a return cargo, met with some acci- 
dent in Newport harbor, was unloaded, condemned 
as unseaworthy, and left to decay. I have frequently 
seen her hull at low water, and the annexed piece of 
wood was cut from her keel, under my own in- 
spection, by John Mason, an honest laborer of this 
place, and has ever since been in my possession. 

" "Whereupon, attestation being requested, I have 
given the same, under my hand and seal of office, at 
Newport, Rhode Island, this 14th day of August, 
1834. John B. Gilpin." 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 165 

Now is not that an interesting piece of wood ? 
What voyages it had made ! how it had ploughed 
through the Pacific and dashed through the Atlantic! 
How had it creaked in storm and defied the dashing 
waves ! How it madly beat from the Isle where 
the first navigator was murdered ! and how, at last, 
it rests in a store-house in the New World ! 

When the Endeavor lay in Newport harbor, the 
September gales howled around and broke it up ; 
the piece of which we are speaking was made a post 
of, and stood on one of Newport streets for years. 
Then it was uprooted, and now it quietly reposes, a 
memorial of ancient adventure. 

It stands in the store of Mr. Joshua Sayer, on Sa- 
yer's wharf, and any hunter after such relics may 
there see it. It is a great attraction to many, and, 
on one occasion, Captain Cook's own daughter, who 
lived at Philadelphia, begged a piece out of which to 
make a frame for her father's miniature. She was 
gratified — but the owner prizes his adventurous log 
so much that, we fancy, no similar application would 
be entertained for a moment. 

Elsewhere we have " done" the Stone Tower into 
verse ; let us see what can be versified about this 
relic of 

THE ENDEAVOR— AN OCEAN FRAGMENT. 



A simple bit of old brown wood, 
Worm-eaten and decayed, 

Recovered, waif like, from the flood, 
Is all that" s here surveyed ; 



166 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPOKT. 

And yet in it the thoughtful mind 
A history, like romance, may find. 

TI. 

Within some English forest dim, 

It grew a stately tree, 
Waving, when breezes woke the hymn 

Of natural minstrelsy ! 
Bright birds among its foliage glanced, 
And village-folk beneath it danced ! 

III. 
A crash ! down fell the Forest King ! 

The woods groaned as it dropped ; 
Men gazed upon each century-ring, 

Its giant boughs they lopped ; 
And where leaf-shadows danced of yore. 
Unsheltered was earth's grassy floor. 

IV. 

Sound was the oak-tree"s frame, and lo! 

Ere long by craftsman's art, 
The trunk was shaped into a prow, 

Old ocean's waves to part : 
And from the soil in which it grew, 
It sped away to islands new. 

V. 

Cook, fearless, paced his vessel's deck, 
As swept the P":ndeavor on ; 

Behind liim England lay, a speck — 
Before him lands un-won ! 

Soon sailed he where Pacific waves 

Roll o'er sharp reefs and coral caves ! 

VT. 

On, onward still, by science urged, 
The Endeavor speeds her way! 

And now her anchor lies submerged 
In Otaheitc's Bay ! 

Half round tlie globe her way hath been, 

And rests she 'neatli the mountains green 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 167 



VII. • 

TliG Mango's dark and feathery palm, 

Grows "neath that tropic sky j 
And breezes redolent of balm 

From spice-groves whisper by ; 
And gem- like constellations smile 
Above that lovely southern isle ! 

VIII. 

With eager hands they launch a boat ; 

Swift speed they toward the land — 
And on the stranger-beach they note 

A seeming friendly band : 
Cook and his brethren of the seas, 
Are welcomed by the savages ! 

IX. 

What need anew the tale to tell — 

Oft told by History's tongue, 
How Cook heard in the frightful yell 

His solemn death-peal rung ! 
Enough to say from that sad shore 
The Endeavor's deck he reached no more I 

X. 

Away once more through ocean's brine 

The ship her courses ran, 
Until her world-encircling line 

Ended where it began ! 
Then, strained and worn, they braced her frame 
And called her by another name. 

XI. 

Time passed — the Atlantic wave she crossed ; 

And then the "whaler" lay, 
No more by foaming billows tossed, 

In Narragansett Bay ! 
The old Endeavor's timbers shrank 
And rotted upon Newport's bank ! 



ICS HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

XII. 
Loud raves the equinoctial gale ; 

Fearful is ocean's roar ! 
Huge bolts to bind each timber fail — 

The Endeavoii floats no more ! 
Ended her wondrous voyages, 
Her torn limbs float o'er moaning seas. 

XIII. 

One, the provr rescued from the wave, 

In antiquarian mood : 
And, as an old-world relic, gave 

This travelled bit of wood ! 
On which [ think whene'er [ look, 
Of the Endeavor and of Cook 1 

Did (iur space allow, we should like to make a list 
of the works of art to be found in Newport. There 
are many, but we can only hint at their depositories; 
and we should be gratified, too, to particularize those 
which are historically interesting. Pleasant would, 
it be to gaze from Mr. William Vernon's fine man- 
sion on the beautiful bay and coast scenery which it 
commands ! Delightful too, would it be to visit the 
late seat of the Hon. Charles Collins, a former Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Rhode Island, and, standing on 
its verdant lawn, with a woody background, to dream 
over the revolutionary reminiscences connected with 
it. Nor would we leave unvisited Mr. Charles Ly- 
man's lovely dwelling ; and then we could stroll to 
the neighborhood of the third beach, where dwells, in 
a charming situation, and surrounded by exquisite 
scenery, Lieutenant-Governor Arnold — a gentleman 
of fine literarv tastes, an acutelv observant traveller. 



HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 169 

and who, we believe, is now wi'iting the history of his 
native State. 

Nearer home is the ahnost paLatial residence of 
W. S. Wetmore, Esq. — a house which strikes us as 
being the ne plus ultra of taste and utility ; the ele- 
gant mansion of Edward King, Esq., which, with its 
grounds, occupies ten acres in the very heart of the 
town ; and the beautiful house of W. H. King, Esq., 
near the Redwood Library. Mr. King's library 
room deserves mention — it is a place which a student 
would covet. 

Then there is the fine cottage of Eichard Derby, 
Esq., at the head of Pelham street, which is a sort of 
Strawberry Hill, for on it is an assemblage of articles 
of vertu — pictures and bijouterie, which might make 
a Walpole's mouth water ! and, noticeable too, is the 
Hon. David Sears's cottage, with its well-planted 
surrounding twenty acres ; the charming dwellings 
of Mrs. Grant, Mr. Morgan Gibbs, Mr. Wright, Mr. 
Mason, Mr. Kane, Mrs. Bruen, Mr. Izard, and Gov- 
ernor Gibbs — the latter a fine old mansion, opposite 
the Stone Mill. 

It has almost escaped us to mention among the 
attractions of Newport — one, which during the sea- 
son, is a source of great delight to the lovers of sweet 
sounds. We refer to the Germania Musical So- 
ciety. This melodious association consists of twenty- 
three members — all connected with good families, 
and each a superior musician. They are in summer 
time engaged by the hotels — half of them playing at 



170 HAND-BOOK OF NEWPORT. 

the Ocean House, and the others being divided be- 
tween the Atlantic House and Belle Vue Hotel. 
During one hour, these bands perform at each house, 
while the guests promenade, and from nine to twelve 
in the evening during dancing, or in the intervals de- 
voted to gossip. In the season, the Germaniansgive 
other concerts, which are always and deservedly well 
attended, for they are highly popular, 

Carl Bergmann, formerly leader of Strauss's cele- 
brated band, is the leader of the Germanians. He 
is a distinguished composer. 

The summer season is not the sporting season — 
but there is one branch of out-of-door amusement, 
Fly Fishing — which some disciple of Izaac Walton 
may like to indulge in, far away from the busy 
crowds. For the information of such, I would just 
hint that in the neighborhood of South Kingstoninay 
be found a trout stream, where two or three pound 
fish are to be taken by a good whipper of the water. 
There are other streams in Wickford, in the neigh- 
borhood of Warwick. Those w^ho may feel inclined 
to take a longer trip in search of sport, should re- 
j)air to Tiverton, in the vicinity of the Stone Bridge, 
already described, where they will, if they know how 
to make or choose and throw a fly, find ample em- 
ployment for their rods. 

And now, reader, we bid you farew^ ell, hoping that 
you have found our little book what it was intended 
to be — A useful Hand-Book for Newport. 






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